


Humanity

by Bojangles25



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-03-16 18:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 37
Words: 95,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3499004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bojangles25/pseuds/Bojangles25
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As technology provided humanity new ways to hurt each other, and bending becomes irrelevant, the Avatar has grown more powerful and more ruthless with every generation. Korra is the most powerful Avatar yet, a living God raised by the White Lotus without mercy and little humanity. A single woman inspires her to change not only herself, but the cruel image of the Avatar. Modernish AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not a very good summary, but I think the story is a little better. My first time writing AU. It feels strange.

“More!” Desperate, panicked, a voice recognizing its transcendence into death and screaming one last protest. “More fire!”

The blaze continued to grow as the Molotovs shattered, the dirty white paint bubbling on the walls and bursting, the plaster curling up into black wisps and falling to the blackened floor as ash. Child’s play. No more an obstacle than turning a door knob.

“Keep her back! Keep her back!”

They could not keep her back. Korra burst through the flames and grabbed the first of them by the throat, tossing him aside like crumpled paper. Another tossed a Molotov at the roof above her, glass and flame raining down on her head. She smiled, glowing like a devil. The flames gathered in her outstretched hands and sprang forth from her fingertips, catching on the gangster’s clothing, his fists beating at the quickly spreading heat. Korra propelled him backwards with a gust of wind. The gangster’s back cracked against a table with a snapping thud, his head bouncing off a sharp corner. He fell unconscious to the floor. At least she had snuffed the flames.

The last of the Triad gangsters pulled a gun from his waist. He screeched as his wrist twisted and snapped, clutched gingerly to the broken bone and groaned as he fell to his knees. “Everyone has a price,” he said. “There must be something you want. Money, drugs, sex, something. Name it and I can give it to you. I swear.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Korra whispered. Low, threatening, standing so the fire at her back would make her seem a dark, featureless devil. Just how she liked it. “You can give me many things that I want.”

“Name it,” the gangster said, tentative grin at odds with the fear in his eyes.

Korra stomped the floor, and a concrete pillar bounced the criminal off the roof. A seizing cough made his entire body shudder, his back arch with dry heaves. He could give Korra what she wanted, but what she wanted was at odds with the person she was trying to be. A sharp kick to the jaw snapped the gangster’s head back and knocked a couple teeth loose into the air. He rolled onto his side, groaning. He would live. Korra spared a contemptuous glance at his two comrades. They would all live, no matter what desires set Korra’s blood to boiling, no matter what the merciless voices in her head demanded.

Five officers waited outside. Each gave her a wide berth. “Is the area secure?” the bravest of them asked. Even his voice quaked and cracked like a pubescent teenager.

“Yeah. Three of them. All yours.”

“They’re all…alive?”

“I was in a generous mood today. Don’t expect me to make it a habit. Now go get them before they wake up and run off.” No chance of that. Those criminals would be lucky to wake up sometime in the next hour.

The officers hurried past, glad to remove themselves from Korra’s presence. “Thank you, Avatar.”

Korra didn’t wait for them to return.

She sped down the highway leading out of the city, well over the speed limit and uncaring. A sliver of moon hung in a sky with too few stars, the glittering painting of her youth smudged by advancement. The wind whipped painfully at her face. Memories of nights spent training with Tenzin on Air Temple Island came unbidden. Too few nights. He’d been the only one willing to teach her, and found himself quickly outclassed, same as most of Korra’s mentors. She still returned to the island from time to time. However brief their teacher/student relationship had been, Tenzin had been the closest thing to a father Korra had since leaving home, and his wife and children the closest thing she had ever had to a real family. Korra closed her eyes and relished in the harsh sting of the wind on her skin.

She hardly needed them open to know when she had come upon her exit, but her eyes opened all the same. The claustrophobic cluster of Republic City gave way to the equal lots of the suburbs, and eventually to towering gates set in well kept walls barring the entrances to the fortresses of the city’s wealthiest citizens. Korra slowed and turned towards one such gate, the steel shaped into the letters A and S. A security guard offered her a cursory glance before buzzing her through.

Surprisingly, not a single light glowed in the rigid rows of windows lining the front face of the mansion. Korra walked to the front entrance, turned the knob, and released a relieved sigh when the door opened without so much as a single creak of its hinges. Dim lights built into the ceiling gave breached the night. Korra slipped out of her boots, left them beside the front door, and took the steps to the second floor as quietly as she could manage.

The bedroom door was cracked open, and like the front door made no sound when she entered. A smooth hump rose on one side of the mattress. A head of hair darker than the shadows cloaking the room sprawled across a pillow. Korra removed her clothes as quietly as she could manage, and didn’t bother throwing pajamas over her underwear before crawling into bed and snuggling close to the woman already snuggled beneath the blankets.

She frowned when Asami groaned sleepily and turned over onto her back. “Go to sleep,” Korra said. “It’s too late to be waking up.”

The pitch black swallowing the room did nothing to dull the jade green of Asami’s sleepy eyes, or the pearly white of her perfect teeth when she smiled. “Hi.”

Korra couldn’t help but smile back. “Hi. I’m okay. Completely untouched.”

Asami continued to stare.

“I didn’t kill any of them. I’m trying, Sami.”

“I know.”

They sunk down in the bed, Asami’s head pillowed against Korra’s shoulder. The Avatar breathed in the scent of the blanket, the soft pillow cradling her head and neck, the silk of Asami’s nightgown, the well-groomed hairs soft as a pillow against her chin. All of it carrying that decidedly distinct odor of flowers, Asami’s citrusy shampoo, the leather of her bike jacket, and a faint whiff of metal and oil.

Another scent wrinkled Korra’s nose, an unwelcome addition. “Oh, shit. I didn’t take a shower, I reek of smoke. I’ll be right back.”

Asami tightened an arm around the Avatar’s waist. “I don’t mind. Go to sleep.”

“Seriously, I stink. If I can smell the smoke, I’m sure you can smell the sweat, too.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Gross, Sami.”

She shrugged, or as much as she could with her arms wrapped around Korra’s body. “So it’s okay for you to like oil and leather and whatever nasty papery smell won’t wash off my hands after a day handling paperwork, but I can’t like smoke and sweat? That’s a lot sexier than paper, believe me.”

Korra shrugged, and relaxed her body into the comfort seducing her mind and sapping her will. “Okay. Your problem.” She liked the smell of paper on Asami’s hands. More specifically, the way the smell mingled with the others which clung seductively to Asami’s skin, the taste of them on her tongue.

“Mm-hmm.”

Korra grinned. For too brief a moment, she forgot the lectures the White Lotus had rapped across her knuckles and bruised her flesh with. They were probably watching Asami’s estate right now, a thought that lifted her reluctant eyelids. Watching, and wondering. Scheming. To Hell with them. She snuggled tighter against Asami, closed her eyes, and lost herself in the scent.

###

“Day off, huh?”

Asami nodded, sipping the surface of her coffee, frowning, and adding a dash of creamer.

“Well, I was planning on going down to the precinct today to talk to Mako. You know, make sure those scumbags I caught last night are tucked away nice and securely.”

“That sounds like fun,” Asami said. Korra stared silently at her. “Okay, it sounds like something for me to do on my day off.”

“I assumed you’d want to sprawl on the couch and lose yourself in daytime television. Or spend the day in the garage.”

“It’s a long day.” Asami sipped again at her coffee, this time with an approving smile. “I’m confident I can get quite a bit done.”

_The Avatar must not tether herself to earthly desires. Friends and family are a scab for your enemies to pick. The more you have, the better the chance they bleed you dry_. Korra shook her head, rubbed sleep from a stubborn eye. “Alright.”

She watched out the windows as the isolated estates turned to uniform suburbs and eventually into the familiar, cramped streets and alleys of Republic City proper. Tinted windows shadowed the two of them from public view, but Asami’s car was well known and her “fling” with the Avatar had been tabloid rumors for years before it became fact. Korra grimaced, wondering how many of the drivers and passengers within neighboring cars knew she was inside, how many of the staring sets of eyes strolling down the sidewalks could guess.

Not even the White Lotus objected to the Avatar having physical relationships. There were still many women alive today who had once been mistresses of Avatar Siyu, and even more children carrying his blood in their veins. Strict as the White Lotus may be, they understood human weakness and the futility of denying any human being, let alone one with the powers of a god, physical pleasures. Korra had been allowed her “romances” as a teenager. All of them had been physical pleasures to the core. Silly crushes with no promise or future, and nonexistent compatibility.

Korra glanced over at Asami, wondering how much time had passed since the brilliant non-bender had crossed the threshold from lust to true intimacy. She wondered if her feelings for Asami had ever been simple lust. She wondered how much longer she could pass off to the public that that’s all Asami still was.

RCPD headquarters froze when Korra walked through the bullpen, a buzzing swarm of bees fallen silent, staring worriedly as she and Asami passed by. Wings began to tentatively flap again as they climbed a set of stairs to the second floor.

“Smooth as always,” Asami teased. “Such winning charisma. You spread joy everywhere.”

Mako sat hunched over his desk, scribbling messily away at the miniature pages of his pocketbook. He frowned when Korra knocked and entered. Yeah, the Avatar thought. People really love me. So much one of my few friends can’t help but frown when he sees me. “Morning, Korra.” Mako placed his notepad down and closed the manila folder on his desk. “Something going on?”

“A girl can’t say hi to a friend?”

“That’s not why you usually come around while I’m working.” Mako smiled at Asami. “Hey, Asami.”

“Hi, Mako.”

“Hey, find your own pretty face,” Korra said, causing Asami to giggle. “While I’m here, I wanted to ask you about those three Triad gangsters I took down last night.”

Mako’s smile wiped off his face like the fire stripped paint off the walls. “Well, they’ll live. You did a number on them, though.”

_No mercy for the black of heart. If they know mercy, they will think you weak_. Korra could hardly deny her own heart was darkened. Even now she felt a tingle of regret zap through her brain at leaving the gangsters alive. “While some of the evidence was…destroyed in a fire, there was enough to start building a real case against Viper. You did good, Korra. We’re all grateful.”

“Yeah, tell that to the grim-faced bastards downstairs.”

Mako waved a dismissive hand. “Everyone who hears daily about the promise the Mayor and President made to rid the city of the Triads is grateful.”

“Well, let me know how else I can help.”

“Of course.”

A powerful hand rapped against the open office door. Chief Lin Beifong stood tall and sour-faced at the threshold, as if she was permanently sucking on a lemon wedge. “Meeting in fifteen, Detective.” She nodded towards Korra. “Avatar.”

“Chief Beifong.”

She turned her back, mumbling as she walked away. “Still not my biggest fan, huh?” Korra said. It was a rhetorical question. Lin Beifong’s resentment towards Korra had little to do with Korra herself and everything to do with the Avatar. Every time they crossed paths, Korra swore she could see the metalbender’s scars flare accusingly. That Korra had not even been born when they were inflicted made no matter.

“Well, duty calls.” Mako stood. “See you two later. Bolin and his wife are in town. We should get together.”

Korra was halfway to declining when Asami said, “Sounds great. When and where?”

“Well, my shift ends at seven, but counting the time the Chief guilts me into staying, I’ll be out of here around eight. You have the huge mansion, how about we meet there around eight-thirty.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Mako smiled. “Okay, well, see you then. Later ladies.”

“Take care, Mako,” Korra said. She turned towards Asami once he was out of earshot. “A party?”

“If you don’t want to be there, no one is forcing you.” Asami crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “My house, my rules.”

“Even after all the time I spend there? It isn’t kind of my house, too, by now?”

Asami smiled. “Nope.”

###

The day passed too quickly, as all peaceful days did. Only when Korra was surrounded by violence and conflict did the river of time find snags to slow the flow of its waters. She sat on the empty beach, watching the last sliver of sun fall past Yue Bay, setting thousands of sparkling diamonds ablaze across its surface. Asami strolled barefoot along the shore, occasionally stopping to pluck shells from the cratered mud.

“What a wonderful day,” she sighed.

It had been almost a perfect day. Korra reached up and found a smile decorating her face while Asami stared out into the bay. Turtleduck boats drifted along near the coast. Shipping containers split the waters further out, white foam spraying up their hulls. “How many of those are yours?” Korra asked.

“Enough to make me very happy. Especially since my phone hasn’t rung once today.” Asami near skipped back over to Korra, the sun at her back making her flawless skin glow like a precious jewel. A thin layer of perspiring sheen only added to the effect. “Though not as much as seeing you smile makes me happy. I don’t get to see it enough.”

“Shut up,” Korra said, blushing.

Asami plopped down at her side and pressed a moist kiss on her cheek. “It’s true. Usually, even when you smile, there’s this stress line across your forehead.” A slim, agile finger traced the skin above Korra’s eyes. “You always have this look as if it pains you to relax and be yourself. As if someone’s going to punish you if you enjoy yourself.”

_There is no room for the individual. You are the Avatar, spirit of balance and justice, the vessel through which Raava’s powers manifest to protect the world. There is no place for Korra. There is no place for weakness_. A branch broke loose from a palm tree to Korra’s right. She jumped up, flame in hand, feet spread, ready for battle.

Asami sighed. “That is what I’m used to. Sit down you big goof.”

“Sorry.” _Avatar Aang watched his oldest child die after a pair of Earth Kingdom assassins came for him at his home_. “It’s been a great day.” _Avatar Roku loved a woman and sparked the Hundred Year War_. “It’s just hard for me to fully relax. I never know when vengeance birthed from the blood I’ve spilled will come for me.” _Avatar Siyu’s greed for wealth, and the enemies he acquired in obtaining his fortune, walked him blindly into the trap that killed him_.

“Try? For me?” Asami placed a tender, sucking kiss at Korra’s jaw.

“I will.” Korra would do anything for Asami. Thousands of disapproving, hostile whispers echoed in her ears.Their hands grasped together, fingers intertwined. The kiss left Korra heady, drunk, eyes half-lidded.

“Good.” Asami grabbed her shoes and stood from the sand, brushing it as best she could from her shorts. “Let’s go. We have a gathering to prepare for and friends to entertain.”

Korra followed her lover off the beach. The sky was darkening, the last flecks of sparkling diamonds on the water’s surface fading away. She smiled. It would be good to see Bolin and Opal.


	2. Corners

The amber liquor left a burning trail from the back of Korra’s tongue, down her throat, and settled warm in her stomach, a sloppy grin sprawling like a pair of loose limbs across her face. She wasn’t a drinker. Only on social occasions where it was expected of her. Maybe this wasn’t quite the level of social occasion that typically drove Korra to alcohol, but she didn’t want to be the only one sober. Mako and Opal were already flushed, and Bolin and Asami were a ways down the path.

“I thought just maybe, one time, Varrick would have a good script for me.” Bolin thumped a meaty hand against the side of his head. “I’m not the smartest rock sent flying off a fist. Sometimes I wonder why these Nuktuk movies still make so much money.”

“Because they’re fun!” Mako slurred. 

“They’re stupid,” Opal groaned. “You deserve better, babe. You deserve someone as smart as Asami to fund your movies. She’d put an honest effort into it.”

“Like my fingers aren’t knuckle deep in enough honey jars already,” Asami said. Somehow, she was maintaining her poker face against the liquor’s influence.

Bolin lifted the bottle to his shot glass, and frowned when it clinked ineffectually. “Already?”

“I’ll get it,” Korra said. Despite the growing drum beat in her head, her voice came out clear and calm. “Continue with your conversation.”

She walked around the bar to the cabinet, stretching the length of the bar itself and stocked with every kind of liquid Korra knew could get a person drunk, and a few she had never heard of. A new bottle of their current intoxicant sat nestled between a thin-necked flask of something clear and a square bottle cradles softly within velvet. She removed the bottle she sought and turned back to her friends.

Asami’s hands were waving about as she spoke, the attention of the others entirely enraptured by the spell her softly scratched voice sang. Korra sat and watched, loving the skill with which her lover could command any social setting, sharply contrasting the Avatar’s blunt, ineffective interactions. Bolin’s rumbling laugh spewed from his gaping mouth. Opal’s eyes watered from both inebriation and amusement. Even stone-faced Mako, he of little humor, was trembling with every word. 

###

They had met in that same room while Korra watched Asami manipulate a different assembly with the same skill. As the Avatar, she was forced on occasion to attend political and social functions where frightened partygoers would whisper perfunctory greetings and questions before leaving her to stew alone in a corner. Nothing positive was ever accomplished such gatherings. If anything, agreements on the cusp of completion were only driven further apart as drink and vice took hold of the attendees.  
She’d found a comfortable corner to sip her wine in silence once the last of those brave enough to approach her had melted back into the indistinct mass of expensive clothing, and watched the party’s gorgeous host navigate her guests with the grace of an airbender navigating Tenzin’s spinning gates.

The raven-haired beauty had stood out not only for her attractive features, alluring dress, and role as host, but for the way she seemed to always extract the proper reaction from her guests. Everywhere Asami Sato walked, the room followed. Circles formed and dissipated. Conversations did not cease to exist when she participated, but grew livelier. She flowed through the room with such skill that Korra did not realize the beautiful engineer was working her way until her skirts sent a tickle of wind up the Avatar’s legs. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Avatar Korra,” Asami greeted. A deft hand jutted expectantly forward.

Korra took it, surprised at the fusion of soft and rugged flesh. Hands the woman took care to moisturize and manicure but was not shy to dirty when necessary. She realized how little she knew about Ms. Sato, and how incorrect her preconceptions based on what little she did know may be.

“Likewise,” Korra replied, the half-truth spilling easily from her lips.

“I’d heard of your tendency to hide in corners. You picked a good one. You can take in the entire room from here and go unnoticed since the bar attracts all the attention. You’re a pro at this.”

“Um, thanks.” Korra cleared her throat and rubbed her forehead. “Sorry, but I wasn’t expecting conversation tonight.”

“Well, maybe I’ll try again later,” Asami said politely, though her mouth twisted into a disappointed frown.

“Yeah, maybe.”

The Avatar snuck from the room and out of the mansion minutes later. She was halfway back to her apartment when two police cars screamed by, sirens blaring. There was no choice but to follow. Korra sucked in the warm spring air and sprinted off in the direction of the flashing lights.

A perimeter of cars, painted blockades, and itchy trigger fingers surrounded a Future Industries factory. Chief Lin Beifong stood amidst her officers. The disdainful twist of her mouth and shine of the scars on her cheek were no different than if she were shopping for toilet paper. The chief broke away to meet Korra. 

“You’re not needed Avatar. We already have two dead. All you’ll do is add to the body count.”

“How many are you dealing with?”

“Alright, guess I have to be more blunt. Fuck off, and let me do my job.”

Not many had the guts to talk to Korra that way. Her history with Beifong had more than made clear the chief’s willingness to do so, but the words still caught Korra by surprise. She strolled past the older woman and snapped her fingers at the only officer looking her way. “How many are inside? And if you look at your boss I’ll snap your leg in half.”

“Fifteen. At least that’s what the one who escaped said.”

Child’s play. “I’ll handle it.”

“You take another step and you’re under arrest,” Chief Beifong said.

Korra turned around to find one of the barricades raised above the woman’s head. Words she could brush off. Physical threats must always go answered. _The Avatar is power. Those who challenge you must always learn, no matter how minor the challenge._ She bared her teeth, lips curling back like a snarling polar bear dog. 

“Try your best.”

Beifong stomped her foot, raising an asphalt pillar beneath Korra’s feet. The barricade flew towards her, creaking as it reformed into a half-circle. Korra caught it well short, lifted a leg backwards, and kicked the top of the pillar towards the police chief’s head. A jumping stomp sent chunks of the raised street spiraling in every direction, obscured the Avatar in a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Chief Beifong lay on the ground struggling against steel bindings wrapping her from shoulder to waist, pinning her arms to her sides. 

“Consider yourself lucky. I could just as easily have wrapped it around your head and crushed your skull. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have thugs to deal with.”

The warehouse was empty, dark, silent. Korra crouched on a nearby roof, watching for any sign of movement. A salty breeze swirled off the ocean, the sharp tang keeping the Avatar awake and focused. She hadn’t thought to ask how many of the workers might still be alive inside. Rushing the warehouse would put them in danger. Korra found it hard to care. She tensed on the balls of her feet, aimed at a window directly ahead, and readied to pounce.

“Wait, Avatar,” a soft, unknown voice whispered.

Korra turned with flames at her fingertips, assuming one of Chief Beifong’s lackeys had grown a spine. The heat went cold and steamed off her skin when she found Asami Sato perched like a slim gargoyle on the lip of a neighboring roof. She had traded her clinging dress for well-traveled khakis and a long-sleeved shirt. A scrunchie secured a ponytail behind her head.

“I’d rather you didn’t burst in there and reduce my factory and workers to rubble,” the businesswoman said.

“Don’t see much of a choice,” Korra said. “Another factory is a drop in the bucket, you’ll manage.”

“That’s not the point. And I have a plan that will allow us to get a good look inside and plan an actual attack strategy.”

“Us?”

Asami nodded confidently, uncaringly. “I’m going in. It’s my factory.”

Korra snorted. “Back off pretty little rich girl. I’ll handle it.”

“Avatar Korra, I will show you the respect of asking permission. But if you say no, I’ll go in anyway.”

 _Those who challenge you must always learn, no matter how minor the challenge._ Korra spouted a line of flame at Sato, propelled herself forward with a burst of wind, and grabbed for the woman’s hair. Long fingers wrapped around her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. A slender, surprisingly powerful arm wrapped around her throat. Korra slid a foot backwards, shifting the roof beneath Sato’s feet, disrupting her balance enough for Korra to wriggle her other arm free and push Asami away. 

She turned around to find the non-bender with feet spread and fists raised. Her expression held the calm focus of combat experience. Korra had not expected that. She respected it.

“Alright,” the Avatar said. “What’s the plan?”

Asami jogged over to a chimney and pulled a duffel bag from behind it. “Can you lift me up to the roof? There’s a window that opens onto a balcony overlooking the production floor.”

Korra grabbed her around the waist. “Hold on tight.”

They landed on the roof without a sound, prompting an approving nod from Korra’s billionaire companion. Asami placed her bag on the ground and began removing equipment. A rope, binoculars, a belt with various tools, night-vision goggles. She placed a glove with switches on the wrist on her left hand.

“What kind of glove is that?” Korra asked.

“A family tradition stretching back a little more than a hundred years that I’ve improved upon.” Asami answered. She flicked each of the switches, and the glove hummed louder or quieter accordingly. One end of the rope was secured tightly around her waist. She held the other end to Korra. “Hold tight. I don’t want to fall.”

The Avatar gripped the rope securely, feet planted at the lip of the roof, while Asami crawled down to a window, removed a tool from her belt, cut out a section of glass, and slipped inside. It was impressive. Korra again wondered how badly she’d misconceived who Asami Sato was and what she was capable of. 

Two men lay unconscious at Asami’s feet when Korra followed inside. The dark-haired woman was crouched near the railing of the overhang, focused solely on the lower level where inactive machinery and tarp-covered completions rested motionless. Featureless silhouettes navigated the spaces between. Their voices were soft as the wind, echoing unintelligibly to Korra’s ears. 

“Minus those two, we’re down to thirteen,” Asami said.

“How do you know?”

“Because I counted. How else?” Asami pointed down to a corner where a half-circle barricade of wooden crates stacked five high imprisoned a frightened huddle of figures. “I’m surprised they didn’t keep them in the office up here.” She pointed down to a spot where two of the intruding silhouettes were wiring explosives. “Cabbage Corp. Has to be.”

“Kind of extreme for a corporation, isn’t it?”

Asami raised a condescending eyebrow. “You don’t know too much about corporate warfare, do you?”

Korra glared. Asami ignored her entirely.

“Looks like they’re only putting a token effort into watching the hostages. I only see two. I can handle them and keep my workers safe while you deal with the rest. Is that okay?”

“Say the word.”

Korra waited while Asami crept over to a section of balcony above the makeshift barricade. A shadow stared up at her and turned around, seemingly unaware. Asami swung one leg over the railing, then the other, and stared over at Korra. With a nod, she dropped to the floor below. 

Time to work. Time to water the earth with the blood of its worse scum.

The first of them was crushed against a wall by a piece of machinery broken off from the factory line. Another turned towards the sound and was rocketed into the air, thudded off the roof, and fell with a snap like a twig back to the floor. The click of a gun when a bullet loaded in the chamber preceded the bang of its firing. Korra deflected it into the neck of a third. The shooter let out a pitiful squeak when she blood bent him. His spine popped like a champagne cork.

Electric shrieks sparked from the corner where Asami and the hostages were, but they were not the Avatar’s concern. She continued to work her way through the factory. Two men attacked her at once, and both drowned on their own blood, clutching to ruined throats. Another, a bender, wrapped a water vine around her wrist. She smiled, yanked him towards her, and ran her fist into his nose.

Outside, the officers shouted and prepared to storm the building. One man was smart enough to attempt to flee towards them, preferring imprisonment to the Avatar’s judgment. Korra ripped the entrance doors from their hinges, catching him square. No one escaped the Avatar’s judgment. 

When the earth settled, the dust floating back down to cake Korra’s hair, and went silent, she walked over to the corner where Asami had fallen, expecting to find her cowering or dead. Instead she found the billionaire standing above four sleeping bodies and appearing every bit as comfortable as she had navigating her party. “Everyone is safe?” Korra asked.

“Yes.” Asami grimaced, staring over Korra’s shoulder. “I hope one of these four is the ringleader of this little group. Doesn’t look like you left anyone else alive to talk.”

“Why bother?” Korra asked, braced for the typical bullshit about morality and the value of the human life. No man who chooses to risk his life against the Avatar places enough value on their life for you to concern yourself.

“I’d like to know who sent them. I suspect Cabbage Corp, but that’s not enough to act. I need one of these guys to give some proof before I can back them into a corner.”

Korra frowned. “Good point. Sorry.”

Asami shrugged. “Nothing to do about it now.” She raised an eyebrow again. “Well, this turned out to be an interesting night. A little more violent than I’d hoped, but it was an…experience to see the Avatar in action.”

“Same here. Well, regarding you, of course. I see myself in action plenty.”

Chief Beifong's officers were inside now, picking over the wreckage of broken steel, rubber, plaster, and bone. They kept a wide berth of the Avatar. Asami reached out a hand, much the same as she had when she held a drink in her hand and her hair flowed stylishly around her shoulders. “Thank you for your help, Avatar Korra. Maybe we can do it again, sometime.”

Korra shook the hand. Smooth, well manicured, but roughened by hard work. “Maybe.”

###

“Are you going to bring that bottle over here at some point?” Mako shouted, snapping Korra back to reality. “Or are you going to hide in the corner and drink it all yourself?”

“Err, yeah. Sorry.”  
Asami laughed, throaty and loose. “Korra likes her corners. You know the first time we met, she stood in that corner right over there…,” she pointed to the left of the bar, “…during a function I held. Didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t want to speak to me when I tried. Slunk out of the house unseen a few minutes later. About an hour later we were beating the crap out of bad guys in one of my factories.”

“That’s a night with Korra,” Bolin said.

“Sounds just like the night we met,” Mako agreed.

Korra placed the bottle on the table between them. “I am what I am.”

Asami nodded and leaned into her side. Korra hoped that what she was now was better than what she had been then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Korra is damn near a literal God in this story. Bullet bending, crazy reflexes, insane power. I mean, you could still kill her same as any person if you managed to get a bullet or a knife in her, but doing so is really, really hard.


	3. Threats

“Hold the breath in your lungs.” Tenzin’s baritone inflection echoed gently, soothing Korra’s thoughts. “Focus on it.” The breeze off the waters brushed through her hair and crawled like a lover’s fingers down her spine. “Release gradually, feel the peace spread out through your chest.” It filled Korra’s stomach like a warm soup, or vigorous laughter.

Beside the Avatar, Jinora’s blank expression provided the standard to aspire towards. Even Tenzin himself could not match his daughter’s affinity for the spiritual. Her arms hung relaxed at her sides, and her closed eyelids and soft lips were entirely free of tension. Even breaths entered through her nose, expanded her chest, and sighed out of her mouth.

Natural as she may be, there was a time where even Jinora could not find peace in the Avatar’s presence. When Korra’s behavior during meditations had caused Tenzin to ban her from attending. Korra opened her eyes, which drew immediately to the faded pink line running from just above Tenzin’s ear to the point where his spine met his skull. 

The airbending master frowned and opened his eyes. “We all have our scars, Avatar Korra. It is your choice whether they taint your story or add character to it. I forgave you long ago.”

“I know. I still can’t forgive myself.”

“Shall we try again?”

Korra swallowed, sighed, and nodded. Tenzin was not the first bending master she had scarred, but he was the last. And the one she felt the most regret over.

The scuffle of boots across the courtyard behind the pavilion disturbed all three of them from their meditations moments later. Three men in the archaic indigo and white robes of the White Lotus stepped from the past and into view, each stroking their lengthy mustaches and lengthier beards. Cold, identical eyes both in their blue irises and the scorn they projected drifted to Tenzin.

“We would like a word alone with the Avatar,” the oldest of them, a stocky man with wisps of pale hair poking around his neck, said.

“You can wait until we’re finished, then,” Korra spat.

“It’s quite alright, Korra,” Tenzin said. The lips of each of the White Lotus members’ lips twisted maliciously. “Hopefully you will still make it to dinner tonight?”

“If it’s at all possible.” 

Korra bowed, and both Tenzin and Jinora returned the gesture. The Avatar waited until they were out of sight before the placid mask she’d adorned melted into a disdainful fury. “What is it?”

“We grow concerned about your continued attachment to Tenzin and his family,” the eldest of the White Lotus said. “Your training is complete, and your use for him ended.”

“They still train me in spiritual matters.”

“There are far superior teachers regarding the spiritual than that fraud.”

Korra clenched her fists. “There is no one in this world more spiritually adept than Jinora. And Tenzin’s meditations help me a lot.”

“You must not grow too attached, Avatar. Attachments are a weakness to exploit.”

 _Even your parents can be your downfall. The Avatar has no parents, no friends, no attachments of any kind. The Avatar is a spirit of justice beyond earthly concerns. As the heir to such power, you must also rise above such earthly concerns._ Korra’s parents were no more than a dream anymore. Sometimes she would remember them one way, sometimes another. More often she could not remember them at all. 

“We will find you another spiritual mentor. One that-”

“I don’t want another spiritual mentor. I will train with Tenzin and Jinora, I will eat dinner with them tonight. You need to stop interfering in my life before I lose my temper. You’re no more immune to me breaking your neck than any other piece of shit criminal out there.”

“You will not threaten us!” The three White Lotus stepped forward, standing tall, harsh words echoing off the pointed roof. “Do not forget your place, Avatar! The White Lotus existed long before you, and will continue to do so long after you are forgotten bones in a forgotten grave.”

Korra flinched, her eyes dropping to her feet. Just like the scared girl who spent her nights crying in a bare cell, curled atop her hard bunk waiting for the pain to fade away. It never did. They had made sure of it every day.

“We are always watching, Avatar. You can hide nothing from us. You are allowed only what we allow you. Do you believe Tenzin and his family to be an exception because airbenders have only recently returned? They are no exception. Nothing is more important than the lessons we must teach you. Nothing is too sacred to sacrifice in the name of our cause. Not a man. Not a family. Not even an entire culture.”

_The role of the bender in the modern world grows more tenuous with every passing day. What need is there to throw a rock when you can fire a gun? Why rely on the limitations of the human body to create fire when machines can do so without fatigue or conscience? You must be the same as these machines, Avatar. Powerful, efficient, and entirely without mercy. And we are the engineers who will build you, no matter the cost._

The shadows fell away, and Korra dared to look up. “There are rumblings of an opposition leader growing too strong in the Northern Water Republic. Also, pirates on the trade routes between the Fire Nation and the Earth Empire have caused enough trouble to gain notice. Either of these problems would serve as a needed refocusing of your priorities. Your work in Republic City of late has calmed the waters substantially. Your help should not be needed for some time. Considering the distractions caused by Tenzin and…others…it would be best if you were to remove them for some time. Goodbye, Avatar. We will be watching.”

Korra listened as the boots of the White Lotus representatives faded away. Her body tensed, like a rubber band pulled taut, until a snarl exploded from her throat and her foot kicked away a section of railing, the splinters splashing like rain into the foaming waters below.

###

“As it so happens,” Asami said, “I know all about them. I’ve lost two ships to these pirates.”

Of course she did. Korra had learned long ago that if drove, sailed, or flew from one place to another with the intent to be bought or sold, Asami Sato knew who, what, when, where, how, and the risks involved.

“In fact, I was planning on hiring some protection. What better protection could I ever hope for than the Avatar?” Asami strutted forward, hips swaying. “And I bet I wouldn’t have to pay a dime.”

Her lips brushed against Korra’s, her tongue flicking out. “Sami…” Korra’s lips granted entrance, and the Avatar’s protests fled back down her throat.

Somehow, Asami knew to pull back anyways. “You okay?”

“Not particularly. Bad day.”

“I know the feeling.” Asami kissed her gently, without expectation or demand. “What can I do to help?”

Leave, Korra thought. Stay forever. Listen while I talk your ear off and lay my every burden on your shoulders. Fuck me until I forget them. 

“Just be you,” Korra said. “That usually works.”

She had almost run that afternoon. Snuck into Asami’s mansion, packed her things and left without a word. Korra had tried her hardest to let the whispers take control. To let the Avatar make the decision. She was beginning to realize how far away the whispers were these days.

“Is it the White Lotus?” Asami asked.

“They know. Or at least suspect. Them suggesting I leave Republic City is their way of threatening Tenzin, Mako, Bolin, you, everyone that I’ve grown close to. Leave or else.”  
“And they’ll deliver on that threat?”

“They always have.”

###

Korra slid along the top of the snow, a smile on her lips, falling flakes melting on her face. The dull glow of a hundred lights and crackling fireplaces pierced through the white where the town lay atop the hill. Home. Her home. The place where her Mom had given birth to her, where her Dad had laughed while reading her goodnight stories. Where they waited now for her.

It hadn’t been too hard to sneak out of the compound. Korra was an old pro now. She doubted they even knew she was gone. They’d be angry when they found out, but hopefully she could get back first. If not, so what? She was the Avatar and they needed her a lot more than she needed them. Maybe she would tell them she wanted to live with her parents, and wouldn’t train again until they let her.

She ran through the empty streets, past the rows of houses and hills of snow where the plow had cleared the asphalt that morning. She took a left at the convenience store and a right at Boomerang Avenue. She ran up the driveway of the one-story house with the doghouse in the front yard. One chubby fist banged excitedly on the front door.

A hard-faced man in an indigo and white robe opened it. “Avatar, you must come with me.”

Korra backed away, a pout on her face. “Where’s Mom and Dad? Where’s Naga?”

“They are not your concern anymore, Avatar.”

“My name is Korra!”

“Your name is irrelevant. It is not who you are. You will come with me now.”

Who she was? She’d show them who she was, little girl or not. Korra stepped back, lifted a sheet of snow off the ground, and readied to throw it. A hand closed around her wrist, and the snow fell with a thud back to the ground. The man in the doorway stepped forward and grabbed her other wrist.

“You must not grow attached, Avatar. Even your parents can be your downfall. The Avatar has no family. You must rise above such earthly concerns.”

“What did you do to my parents?”

“They have been relocated. Perhaps someday, when we feel you are ready, you can see them again, but now is not that time. If you continue to sneak away from the compound, we may be forced to take more drastic actions. Do you want that?”

Korra sniffled, her tears cold on her cheeks, burning her eyes. “No.”

“Then come with us. And stop this foolishness.”

The snow crunched mournfully beneath Korra’s boots. They had bound her hands, and between the cold and the uncomfortable rub against her dried out skin, she could feel her wrists chafing raw. “Why are you doing this?”

“To make you the best Avatar we can. The Avatar you have to be to keep the world in balance.”

###

“You think the White Lotus will come for me?” Asami asked. 

“Not right now. Right now they’re more worried about Tenzin and Pema. They’re the family the White Lotus spent my entire life denying me after all, and I’m sure they never expected us to grow close. None of my other bending tutors can stand to speak to me. But yeah, eventually they’ll realize what’s going on with us, unless I break it off. And if I could have, I would have long ago.”

Asami smiled and squeezed Korra’s hand. “I’m not sure whether to tell you I love you or to get out of my house.”

Korra’s laugh was a booming echo halfway to a sob. “I know you’re joking, but that would make things so much easier for me. Call me a bitch, slap me, and kick me out, please.”

“Sorry. That’s your burden.”

“I know.” Korra’s throat clenched beneath the Avatar’s crushing fingers, the long, burdened digits merciless and refusing to be pried away. “I need you to say it, Sami. I need you to say you’re willing to go all in with me. It’s been a long time coming, but I think I’m ready to do this, to take the White Lotus on. You’re the biggest reason why. But I can’t take that step unless you’re there with me, because alone I’m still that little girl who ducks her head and obeys. I’m sorry to put that on you, but this is it for me. This is when I either become the monster they want me to be, or become something better, and spirits, I _want_ to be better.”

Korra focused on the towering window to her left, staring at the garden beyond. A branching crack of lightning tore through a thunderhead out over the water beyond the city, but the wind lashing at the trees gave no indication which direction the storm would go. Korra closed her eyes, waiting for the thunder to shake the world. 

The roar never came, and a pair of arms encircled Korra’s neck, pulled her in. Soft hair tickled her nose with a smell he knew and loved. She gently squeezed around Asami’s waist, pulling her lover into her lap.

“I’m with you, Korra. I’m no spirits damned pushover. If the White Lotus want a fight, they’ll get one. And believe me, I have the power to win.”

They woke the next morning still dressed in the clothes they wore the night before. Korra remembered little. They had gone together to eat dinner at Air Temple Island, hand in hand. They had laughed drunkenly while walking the Sato estate, daring whatever White Lotus may be watching to notice. Hand in hand, they fell on Asami’s bed and held each other, content. Korra could vaguely remember falling asleep and denying it.

A Future Industries cargo ship awaited them at the dock a few hours later, one among a fleet of various vessels docked in the harbor. Deep sea fishers, other cargo ships, cruise ships, some idle, some crawling with crew, some loading, some offloading. Asami swaggered confidently over to her ship and spoke with a well-groomed man in a captain’s jacket, the Future Industries logo embroidered on the breast. The captain looked past her at one point, saw Korra, and smiled nervously. Then he saluted and made off to continue giving orders to his crew.

“Nervous, huh?” Korra asked when Asami returned. 

“Yeah. Chang has been captain of this ship for twelve years. He cares more about that scrap of steel than he does his wife. Now I promised him you would do everything you could to limit damage to it. Don’t let me down.”

Korra shook her head. “Never.”

Asami smiled, and leaned up to kiss Korra’s cheek. “Then let’s get it done.”

They walked hand and hand towards the docking ramp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these chapters have gotten progressively shorter, but that's not really intentional. I'll always keep them above 2000, and aim for at least 2500. 
> 
> Also, I love to hear everyone's thoughts on the story. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated, or even just a comment every few chapters so I know people are still reading.


	4. Blood

The crew of the _Yasuko_ crowded around the port side railing, shuffling out handfuls of yuans and handing the bills to Chang’s second, a sinewy man named Donghai who smelled and looked as if he’d sprung full grown from the sea itself. Korra listened to the melding roar of voices from her perch atop a large transport crate. It was hard to tell whether the disbelievers were the majority or simply louder. 

Asami looked up from where she stood among the crew and gave Korra a thumbs up. She’d handed over a substantial stack of yuans herself, and there was no need to guess which way she had wagered. Eventually the din faded, replaced by an expectant, jittery silence. Korra watched Donghai flick wide-eyed through the pot. He looked up at her and nodded nervously. Probably hoping he had bet the right way. 

The Avatar took one last glanced from bow to stern, made one last approximation of the _Yasuko’s_ weight and center. The crew had arguably vehemently against telling her the number. Asami had tried to whisper it, and Korra had refused her. Merciless bloodshed was one thing, she thought with a grim grin, but cheating a poor man out of his money was too cruel.

“Remember, no Avatar State!” Chang shouted.

Korra snorted. As if she needed to cheat like that. 

A single deep breath held in her lungs, a further challenge for no purpose beside her own pride, and she dove from the crate. She slipped beneath the surface of the water with barely a splash. Muffled cheers pieced the pressure swelling around her ears and pressing on her lungs, trying its hardest to force the air from them. A school of wolf fish scattered.

The ship floated blurry and gray above. Korra began swishing the water surrounding her, letting it twist her around in a circle, faster with each revolution. A funnel of foaming jets swirled around her, narrowed beneath her feet. A larger funnel formed ahead. Korra bolted towards the belly of the cargo ship like a missile.

Drenching streams poured down her face when she burst past the surface, and Korra sucked in a needed breath. The _Yasuko_ balanced precariously atop the larger pillar of churning water. It tilted too far towards the stern and released a creaking whine alongside the frightened screeching of the ship’s crew. Korra gritted her teeth, sweat dripping off her forehead, and the pillar supporting the ship widened at its peak, spreading along the belly. One final shudder and the _Yasuko_ held true.

Korra felt the funnel holding her afloat quiver and weaken, but it held her stable as she lowered the ship back down. A line of awed faces appeared at the railing, staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the Avatar’s feat. Gentle waves rolled outwards when the ship returned to the surface. Korra dipped back below, tensed, and used the water to throw herself back on deck. She even landed on her feet for a bit of showmanship that made her grin.

“What the fuck,” someone muttered.

The Avatar turned towards her audience, and the grin washed off her face. A sea of pale, scared faces stared with eyes wide as a hooked fish. “What?” Korra asked. “I told you I’ve done that before.”

“Okay, t-time to p-pay out,” Donghai stuttered. 

He handed out the winnings, slapping the bills into slack hands that dropped them. Asami was the only one who took the money with any satisfaction. Perhaps because she received the majority of the prize money. The crew returned to their duties on shaking legs.

“She’s a monster,” an old man muttered.

Korra stomped angrily down below deck, shouldered past two crew hands in a narrow hallway, and slammed the door to her quarters shut. The metal thud rang awfully in her ears.

When the knock came moments later, it was all Korra could do to ignore the sound rather than rip the door off its hinges and beat whoever stood on the other side to death. When the door opened, she stood off her bunk ready to do just that. Asami stepped inside, and Korra let the electricity sparkling through her veins die at her fingertips.

“I’m sorry,” her girlfriend said. “I shouldn’t have goaded them along. I knew they might react that way and I encouraged them anyway. Give them some time, I’m sure they’ll come around.”

“Was it like that for you, the first time you saw me when we fought those guys at your factory?” Korra asked.

“I didn’t see much.” Asami frowned, and her eyebrows fell in on each other. “I was busy watching over my workers.”

“Well, you’ve seen me in action. Did you react the same way everyone out there just did?”

Korra stared at the wall to her right while her girlfriend walked over and sat on the bunk beside her. 

“Worse. The first time I saw you do anything this impressive, you did worse, and you were in the Avatar State. Remember when you defended Zaofu from Jianjun’s army? You were throwing tanks and deflecting shells and blasted that jet out of the sky. It is still the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. The media coverage afterwards was the most awful thing I’d ever seen. That was back when we’d been friends for maybe a year and I was seriously considering ignoring you afterwards, but I was scared how you would react.”

To this day, those were the bloodiest two days of Korra’s life. Jianjun was a madman, and his army had fought to the last, boots and treads crawling over the broken wreckage of steel and bone, the blowing ashes, the blacked earth, inhumanly willing to rush to their death. By the time Korra snapped Jianjun’s arm and drove his own knife into his neck, upwards of a two thousand had lost their lives on both sides. A specific number was never established. No one could ever stomach the grim task of piecing together what remained of the bodies.

“Thank you for not giving up on me,” Korra said.

“No, thank you for never giving up on yourself or the world. And I hope you don’t give up on this crew, either. Keep working. Keep being that stubborn person you always are. Make them like you.”

Korra shrugged. “I’m sure they will like me if I end up saving their lives.”

Or she would go to far, frighten them even more, and blacken the Avatar’s reputation the same way poisonous ash had blackened the emerald valley and sparkling rivers of Zaofu. No matter how you try to earn love, and no matter how you deserve it, you will always be feared and hated, because humanity can never love something they do not comprehend.

One quiet day passed, and then another. Korra’s only real conversation came with Asami and Captain Chang. Sometimes Donghai would muster the courage in his captain’s place. The crew managed polite smiles more often than not. They tried their best to avoid her.

The pirates came on the third day, as the sun turned the sea to sparkling fire to the east and the stars burned away. Korra heard the shouts from topside, and Asami shuffled awake beside her. Clothes were hastily donned. Asami slipped her coat over her bulletproof vest, and insisted Korra wear one as well. They shared the same brief, unsatisfying kiss as always. Motivation, Asami said the first time they kissed before a fight, so they would both stay alive for one better. 

Captain Chang’s bloodless face, white as the moon, stared towards the rising sun and the two ships stark as shadows against the rising sun, like an artist’s painting of impending doom. “Two?” Korra said. “Guess they are doing well for themselves.”

“We have maybe five minutes until they’re on us,” Chang said. “What do we do, Avatar?”

“Get your crew ready to fight. Full speed ahead. Try to outrun them.”

“Those are frigates. This is a damned whale. There’s no chance we can lose them.”

“You don’t have to.” Korra jumped atop the portside railing. “You only need to buy me time.”

She dove into the water, spread an air bubble around her body, and propelled herself towards the cruisers. 

###

“What the fuck is that thing?” a scarred, hard woman shouted, gone soft as silk in her fear.

Korra ripped a square of metal from the wall in time to halt three bullets fired her way. With flicks of her wrists she turned it sideways and spiraling into the shooter’s chest. The rest fled up the stairs to topside, like the others had. Right where Korra wanted them, with nothing but wide, open space and only water to escape to. 

Greed continued to motivate the worst of the pirates. Two clutched sacks of valuables like their firstborn children, while others stood frozen in place with fistfuls of coins glinting between their fingers. The barrels of cheap pistols shook in a dozen hands while they aimed Korra’s way. Uncertainty made her hesitate.

“Flyswatters attempting to kill an eagle,” the White Lotus woman behind Korra said with a chuckle. “Finish them, Avatar.”

Three more bullets let fly. Korra used a gust of wind to send them wobbling wayward into the deck. Two fired, and she stood out of their way. A grin poked at the corners of her eyes, feral and bloody. She rushed forward and the deck devolved into chaos. 

When the fight ended, Korra wiped the blood from her eyes and spit at an old man face down near the bulkhead blocking the way back below deck. He had been the first to run and the last to die. The smell of blood blended with the salty spray off the water. A good smell, an invigorating, victorious smell. A victory she had trained her entire life for.

The White Lotus woman smiled at the Avatar’s side. “Very good.” More climbed on deck from the small boats surrounding the pirate vessel. “Very good, Avatar. You should be proud.”

Korra waited for her congratulations. She waited for the praise she’d dreamed of when this day ended. For the White Lotus to finally say _they_ were proud, that _they_ were happy. Instead they began tossing the dead overboard with hardly a glance her way. 

“I killed them all?” Korra asked. Adrenaline rendered the fight a blur.

“As you should have,” the woman said. “As you were trained.”

“But maybe if I kept them alive, I could have-”

“There is no benefit to mercy. Ever. You know this. Or do you require more lessons?”

Korra shook her head and averted her gaze.

“No mercy for the black of heart, Avatar. Such scum will never show you such leniency, and to hold back only gives them opportunity to hurt you in ways they should never have been allowed to begin with. Look at the blood.”

She did as told, as always. The deck was coated with it, a grim, grisly, uneven coat of paint drying quickly in the sun.

“Mercy does not prevent blood. It only changes the bodies it flows from to the innocent instead of the guilty.”

###

The closest of the pirate frigates split the water above Korra, the edge of a blade thrust towards the _Yasuko_ ahead. She broke the surface in an arc towards the hull, guessing she was near the engine room, split open a section to give her entrance, and tucked into a ball as she passed the jagged edges. 

A lone crewmember stared mouth agape while Korra stood up. She knocked him out cold with a punch to the jaw and wrapped him with cables ripped from the machinery around her. One person who would survive the day, anyway. Once she bent the water from her skin and clothing, she hardened it to ice and began slicing at everything in sight. A dying groan, colossal shudder, flashing red lights, and piercing alarm told her the job was done. Korra gashed the hull. Water poured in through the breach, shoving at Korra’s legs, trying to knock her off her feet. She bent it away and ran for the opening. 

The breach stitched shut like a wound. Korra was knocked off her feet into the water. Her jaw bounced off the floor and her head rang with a hundred bells. 

“Who the hell are you?” a tall pirate asked. He tapped a pipe in one hand against the palm of the other. 

“Someone you should not have tried to fight,” Korra said. She couldn’t help it. The grin spread sure as it did the day the White Lotus unleashed her on the world, nodding like proud parents as she spilled the blood of the pirates aboard that tiny ship.

He was a talented metalbender, Korra could give him that much, and he was in his element. The close quarters gave Korra little room to maneuver, forcing her to focus on defending his attacks. He gave few openings. His stamina was impressive. His attacks creative. 

Too bad he didn’t pay more attention to positioning. 

The moment his foot splashed through the water accumulated in the engine room, Korra froze it in place. The moisture splashed up his body, allowing her to freeze his legs, left arm, and chest. He beat at the ice with his free hand, too slow to stop Korra from whipping him across the face. She froze the rest of his body as footsteps pounded down the metal stairs leading above. She collapsed the roof to impede them. 

Cold water burst through two new gashes in the hull. The Avatar dove out into the ocean. To her right, the second of the pirate frigates had closed the gap and was preparing to pull alongside the _Yasuko_. Muffled commands blared bland static into her ears. Tiny dots descended in tinier boats lowered to the water while others readied boarding ramps.

Korra dove beneath the water, tensed, and pushed herself forward.

Gunshots rang loud above her head when she surfaced. A body fell from the _Yasuko_. She could not tell which side it belonged to. Another joined it moments later. Korra rose high in the air within a whirlpool and took in the battleground. The crackle of electricity drew her attention where Asami had shocked a pirate and took his gun. She ducked from behind her cover to pop off three shots, one of which blasted the brains of another pirate out the back of his head.

Others had fared much worse. Donghai lay bleeding against railing, unfocused eyes staring at his wounds. Four others lay motionless among the crates. Pirates poured aboard the deck from ladders and ramps. Blood streaked the steel and pooled behind Korra’s eyes, guilt pulsing at her temples. She should have been quicker. She shouldn’t have tried to show off.

The Avatar fell onto the deck in a swirl of wind and water, knocking the invaders into the water and ricocheting them off the crates. A firebender loosed his flames at her, and Korra shoved him off the ship with her own. A pair of guns fired simultaneously. She deflected one bullet, but the other ripped through her side. The pain lanced through her. Her eyes glowed, and she snarled. The last thing she remembered was the scream of the man who shot her as his arm snapped at the elbow and the dual steely ring when his gun clanged off the deck.

Time passed in a blur of water and blood. Something detonated in her ears. Backs showed as the pirates fled. Korra gave chase. Those who draw your blood must repay with interest. Always. A woman screamed. Bones cracked like twigs. A retreat was shouted desperately from aboard the pirate frigate. Another detonation sucked at the air. Korra strained, her muscles bulging and flexing.

She came down to the feel of a soft hand gripping hers. Asami whispered in her ear, the words slowly breaking through the rush of blood in her head. “…it’s over. It’s over, calm down. You did it.”

Other, happier sounds replaced the swell in her ears as Korra came down. Cheering. The crew of the _Yasuko_ surrounded her, and hands slapped happily on her shoulders and back. 

Chang broke through the crowd to shake her free hand. Asami still held Korra’s other hand like a drowning sailor to a lifeline keeping her afloat. Or maybe she was Korra’s lifeline, lifting her head above the blood. “Thank you, Avatar Korra,” the captain said. “I thought we were done for. We definitely would have been if you hadn’t sunk that other ship.”

“That was amazing!” someone else shouted. “I can’t believe you threw that ship!”

Smoke rose thick and black into the sky where the two broken vessels slowly submerged into the ocean. Fires snuffed as they were extinguished. Bodies spotted the water between the sinking frigates and the cargo ship they had attacked. 

More compliments rained upon Korra’s ears alongside slapping hands and mindless cheering. Asami led Korra away, doing the speaking for her. They disappeared through the bulkhead and down to her quarters. Only when Korra was seated on the bunk did Asami let go of her hand, and only long enough to brush her fingers along the damp side of her shirt, making Korra wince. 

“Bullet went through me. Guess I shouldn’t have tried to play it nice.”

Her girlfriend pulled a first-aid kit from under the bunk. “What do you mean?”

“I tried to take out the first ship bloodlessly. Took too much time and let them get to you.”

“It didn’t matter what you did. Once you dove in the water, both ships came full speed ahead. One of them was going to reach us.”

“Then I should have gone Avatar State right away and sank them both.”

Asami frowned. “Don’t ever regret doing the right thing.”

“Why?” Korra tried to stand, but was pushed back down. “If I do what I was trained to do, no one on this ship dies today.”

“And you look like the monster you claim to despise.”

Korra shrugged. “Maybe I should have just been the monster today.”

“No.” Asami’s emerald eyes were afire, her ruby lips a hard line. “Doing the right thing isn’t easy. That’s what makes it right. Hardship is what sculpts a person into the best they can be. What you did today is you at your best. It’s the woman I love, and the woman who just had the crew that feared her hours ago cheering her as their hero. You did good today, Korra.”

The Avatar reached down to wipe away a smudge of blood above her wound. “Mercy does not prevent blood. It only changes the bodies it flows from to the innocent instead of the guilty. Something the White Lotus taught me.”

“And do you wish to live by their teachings again?”

Korra’s blue eyes went cold as ice. “Never.”

Asami brushed her lips against Korra’s. “Then let the guilt hit you. Let it torture you. Because the consequences of doing the right thing are a lot easier to forgive than the memories of doing the wrong thing.”


	5. Effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy as hell, but it serves a purpose.

There were certainly worse ways to “announce” Korra’s relationship with Asami than a vacation in the Fire Nation. 

The Avatar lay in the sun, sunglasses over her eyes, lotion over her glistening skin, thinking over some of those ways. She could be wearing a lot more clothes and yet much, much colder. She’d always thought about confessing her love to the last White Lotus member left at her old compound at the South Pole while she tore it to the ground. She’d let him go afterwards, and he would run off to confirm the rumors already spreading faster than the fear in his shriveled, potentially nonexistent heart. 

Or maybe she would have held a press conference back in Republic City. Korra was the Avatar after all. One word that she something important to say and every major news outlet in the world would be there to hear it. She could out the White Lotus’s brutal methods to every nation, maybe even rally them against the merciless organization. Korra frowned. That wasn’t the way. This wasn’t the world’s fight, and she didn’t need the world’s help. She didn’t want it. Not right away.

A shadow fell over Korra, a merciful reprieve from the heat. It beamed back down on her all too soon when Asami sat back on her towel, a sweating glass of some cool, fruity drink in her hand. She smiled at Korra from beneath her rose colored sun hat. “How are you sweating so much? It’s like eighty degrees, at most.”

“Well excuse me,” Korra pouted. “I’m a Water Republic girl. I sweat in the snow.”

Asami lay back, propped up on her elbows. Very, very aware of the seductive image she was presenting. “That’s okay, it looks good on you.”

These had been their entirely irresponsible days in the port city of Shi Shouzhi. The Yasuko had departed four days ago, and another three remained before Asami’s personal yacht arrived to take them back to Republic City. Korra had yet to decide if she would return or book a plane to the Northern Water Republic. 

“Apparently there’s some kind of festival in town tonight celebrating traditional Fire Nation foods,” Asami said. “Maybe we could get some real food in us instead of hotel junk.”

“Junk? Those cookies are delicious.”

“It might be a good idea to eat something besides cookies and cake. Please?”

Korra grinned. “Like there’s any chance I’ll say no.”

Shi Shouzhi seemed a city built upon celebrations. Every night there had been some gathering; firebenders danced in parks, musicians played in ancient courtyards, Asami’s business partners invited her to parties, there were car shows and plane shows and amateur bending matches. When Korra and Asami weren’t at one of these many events, they were relaxing on the beach or back at their hotel room.  
And they had done nothing to hide themselves. Korra leaned over and kissed Asami fully, grinning at the dexterous hand that snaked through her hair. Hundreds of cameras had captured such kisses and the pictures had been printed in every newspaper. Reporters from local news stations rang their hotel’s phones off the hooks at all hours and followed them everywhere to beg for interviews. Korra could see them waiting just off the sands, in the parking lot, to ambush her and Asami once they left.

“If we’re spending the night in town, maybe we should head back and get ready,” she said. “You might think sweat makes me look good, but it’s also making me a magnet for sand. Maybe we could even put a little effort into dressing up.”

Asami lifted a dark eyebrow. “You want to dress up? You?”

“Yeah. I am a girl, you know.”

“I’m aware.” Asami chuckled. “I am having entirely too much effect on you.”

It seemed like the entire city lined the streets to watch the Avatar walk hand in hand with her lover back to their hotel. They whispered and cowered on the sidewalks, they slowed in their cars, they pressed their faces to windows. Incredulous conversations grew louder to compete with each other. Korra began to parse the words from the rolling roar. “Isn’t that the Avatar? She’s holding hands with that woman? Are they sisters? No! I saw them kiss! Is she here for a reason? What will she destroy?”

The hotel mercifully rose ahead after a left turn fifteen minutes from the beach. Outstanding location, Korra thought. She jogged towards it, still gripping Asami’s hand, hurried through the entrance, into the elevator, out into the hallway, and into their room. The bed swallowed her as comfortably as if it was molding beneath her. Even when Asami sat next to her, the mattress’s caress did not relent.

“You’re already changing your mind, aren’t you?” Korra’s girlfriend asked.

“No,” the Avatar muttered. She bolted upright. “Not at all. Let’s get ready. How long do we have?”

Asami dragged Korra up and pulled her into the bathroom. “Enough time.”

###

The contrasting smells of a hundred different dishes blended together within the sprawling square, rising from the stalls and trailers to join the sharp smell of impending rain and fading smoke to spread throughout Shi Shouzhi. Korra had noticed the mouth-watering flavors the moment she stepped outside the hotel, and it had quickly set her stomach to rumbling like a rockslide. Now that she had found the source, it was awful hard to maintain the dignity her company demanded.  
At least Asami had dissuaded her from wearing a dress. Korra already regretted what effort she had put into her appearance. The steamy night was cooking her like a sausage. Her blouse always found a spot to cling to her sweaty skin. She hated how the edge of her skirt brushed against the back of her knees. Sweat was running across the light makeup Asami had applied. Her heeled shoes were already doing a number on her unfamiliar ankles. Her lipstick was just going to smudge and smear once she started diving into her dishes. The entire exercise had reminded her why she didn’t bother with this crap.

Asami looked as comfortable in her dress as she did in an oil-stained tank top or a nightdress. She was a woman of a ridiculously diverse wardrobe. “That all smells so delicious.”

Korra offered her arm, and smiled when her lover slipped her around the elbow. “Shall we milady?”

“You dork. Let’s.”

They shared spicy flakes that made their mouths numb. They sampled chili heavy with meat, and another heavy with vegetables. Sizzling komodo sausages straight off a fire were bought up quickly. Fried crabs and shrimps were plucked off piles barely upright on large plates. Korra mentioned wishing they had some cold shrimp on ice, the way she preferred them, and Asami rolled her eyes. When Korra complained about the spices on the fish, her girlfriend slugged her in the arm.

Other than the mob clamoring for the sausages, moving to the front of the lines was easy, as whoever may have been ahead of them tripped over their feet to get out of the Avatar’s way. The chefs and vendors refused her or Asami’s money, to the point they had to force the money upon them as if it were a threat. “You know,” Korra said, “This is where the whole ‘the world hates the Avatar’ thing always came in handy. People seem to think it’s an insult for me to pay them.”

“Then they can be insulted,” Asami said. “We’re paying.”

“I’m just saying-”

“And you’ll only say, never do. Got it?”

Korra bowed theatrically. “Yes, boss lady.”

They were among the last to stick around, when many of the vendors selling the hot dishes had packed up and left, and the majority of the consumers with them. Korra was finally beginning to grow comfortable in her clothing as she sucked down spoonfuls of cherry ice cream. And Asami’s lustful eyes were making her feel pretty. Even more so than Asami usually did. Korra’s cheeks grew hot as the spicy food filling her stomach, and the cold dessert was not helping.

“You’re so beautiful,” Asami whispered.

“Shut up.”

“Never.”

They made one more circuit of the square to be sure they had tried everything, and purchase what snacks and desserts were available to take home. A chill blew through the streets, riding the whipping gusts acting as vanguard for the coming storm off the coast. Lightning stabbed at the ocean below, far enough away where no thunder accompanied it. Asami still had one arm linked with Korra’s. Both struggled to carry the bags in their arms, but refused to separate.

“This is why I want to take those monsters on,” Korra said. “Today was amazing, because for the first time I completely ignored what they might think. This is what I want, right here. To know that no matter what I have to deal with in the world, no matter how I might bruise or be bruised, bleed or be bled, I will be able to go home and spend a fun day with someone I care about. To feel no guilt about my friends and loved ones. I only ever dreamed about nights like this.”

“I’m glad you are enjoying yourself,” Asami said. “To be honest, I’m finding it hard to believe, too. Not the having fun part, but that it’s with you.”

###

Guilt pressed in on Korra from all sides when she opened her eyes, a multi-front battle she could not possibly win, pressing the tears from her eyes. Asami still slept peacefully beside her. Korra allowed herself one last glimpse before climbing from the bed and grabbing her clothes.

The vase of lilies still sat untouched on the table beside the stairs, white and in bloom and entirely ignored when Asami received them the day before. A portrait of Yasuko Sato stood beside it. She was far more beautiful than the flowers. Sharp chinned, round faced, the same entrancing emerald eyes as her daughter, the same onyx hair. 

Korra frowned at the photograph. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have done this. I do love your daughter, but this…was the absolute worst time. I hope you can forgive me.”

A collection of gardeners watched out the corners of their eyes as she left the mansion. The guard at the gate didn’t look up from his newspaper. Korra allowed herself one look back at the mansion. Black curtains still hung closed over the windows. An oil stain scarred the driveway from a leaking car. The gate rattled shut, and the world fell back its interrupted silence.

Yasuko’s death still dominated the headlines and gossip of every conversation Korra heard that day. No surprise, of course. She was the wife of Hiroshi Sato, founder of Future Industries, one of the largest and most influential corporations in the world, and the mother of Asami Sato, that corporation’s current CEO. But seeing Yasuko’s face at every corner, on every television, hearing the mourning on thousands of lips, only worsened the pounding behind Korra’s eyes. 

She had dreamed of last night for a year. Now it was a nightmare eating away at her brain.  
Korra returned to the Sato estate that night. The guard at the gate hesitated before letting her in, and Korra did not ask why. She would have turned around and walked away if he had refused her. She would have understood completely. Black still cloaked every window, but not from the curtains. 

The lilies drooped beside the doorway when Korra entered. Silence ruled the mansion. The stairs announced her presence with every hesitating step, and she nearly turned to run. _Love has proven the downfall of too many Avatars. You will NOT be one of them._ At the landing atop the stairs, Korra looked left, and then right. Dull light glowed beneath the door of Asami’s home office. The Avatar turned to flee, but stopped before the first step. 

Asami looked up from her desk when Korra entered, and managed a polite smile. A perfectly tuned mechanism reacting the way it had been built that made the guilt swirl in Korra’s stomach, sucked bile up her throat. “H-hey, I mean, hi Sami.”

“Hi, Korra.”

No anger, but no joy. An impersonal greeting that could mean anything. “So, did you, um, how was your day?”

The question went ignored. 

Korra sighed and gently shut the office door. “What are you, er, you know, doing?”

“Looking over some things.”

If Korra had ever doubted so before, she could not now. She was in love with Asami Sato, and now that she’d been allowed a taste, it clung to her teeth, dried her throat, made her limbs tremble for another. The only way to kick it was cold turkey, to remove all access from the substance.

“So, about last night…”

Asami stopped reading, finally giving Korra her full attention.

“That was a mistake. And I’m sorry.” _Deny all attachment. Family, friends, lovers all._ “We can’t ever do that again.”

Asami stared, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed angrily.

“I’m leaving for the Earth Kingdom tomorrow morning. Thought I’d let you know. It will give us both a chance to get over whatever…this is. To move on.”

Not a word. Korra’s legs almost gave out.

“So, goodbye for now.”

“At least now I know where we stand,” Asami said. Flat, cold, a knife digging past Korra’s ribs. She looked back at her desk.

Korra fled the room, took the stairs in a single jump, and ran out the door, determined to never come back. It was for the best. She was the Avatar. The Avatar can have no emotional attachments to be exploited by enemies. Love was a weakness. Friendship was a weakness. Both must be avoided the same way she would avoid any attack seeking her death.

She only lasted two days before returning.

###

“I completely understood,” Asami said. “Or I thought I did. It hurt, but it wasn’t as if I’d never done same. I was actually angrier when you came back. That’s when I didn’t understand at all. I kept waiting for the day it would all turn, when you would find someone else. It felt so unreal. It still does.”

“Sami…”

“You know it would hurt a lot more if you left now, right? I could take it before, but now? That would break me. I can rebuild anything, and I’d rebuild myself, but it would be hard. You would think time would make me feel better about us, but time let you tell me about all the reasons I might be bad for you and the outside forces working against us. I’m less sure about us now than ever before.”

Asami stopped and turned, her eyes determined. “I just need to hear you say it sometimes. Please? If I’m putting myself at risk the way you want me to, I need to hear it.”

Korra smiled. Of course she’d say it. She’d say it over and over. “I love you. I mean it. I really, really love you. You know how good you are for me. You’ve seen it. I’d be an idiot to turn my back on that now. I am an idiot, but not that much.”

“Thanks, Korra. I love you, too.”

The streets were empty, and the music floating through them silenced. A grumble of thunder rolled across the sky. Korra and Asami arrived back at their hotel as the first spits of rain began to fall. By the time they reached their room, the drops were pounding against the walls like a drum roll. 

“Perfect timing,” Asami grinned. The room lit up from a flash of lightning. “You mind closing the curtains?”

Korra snatched both halves of the material, and froze. Down on the street, a shadow stood in an alley, glowing eyes upturned towards her. Another flash of lightning brightened the deep blue of his robes and danced off a scar across a hard face. “Hey, Sami, come here.”

Asami swayed over, shaking her hair loose across her shoulders. “What is it?”

Korra pulled her close and pressed their lips together. Her tongue probed insistently, and Asami quickly granted it entrance. They stood there beside the window, lost in the kiss, until the next roar of thunder rattled the glass within its frame. Korra pulled away and looked back down. The shadow was gone.

“What was that about?”

“Just a formal announcement.” Korra smiled uneasily. “Now we wait. You ready?”

Asami yanked the curtains shut and pulled Korra’s lips back to hers.


	6. Balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually pretty happy about how this chapter turned out. I hope you all agree.

A forest of vines crawled over the skeleton of Republic City, crumbling what blackened, fragile supports still stood and squeezing the last desperate gasps of air from the metropolis’s lungs. A hunched procession of empty expressions marched sullenly up the hill towards Korra. Their dead eyes came alive only to spew bitter accusations her way before shuffling past.

Tears fell down her cheeks. She bit her lip, clenched her jaw, knuckled angrily at her eyes, but they did not stop. She had failed. She had done everything right, and she had still failed. 

“Why?” she whispered.

“Because you were weak.” Avatar Siyu marched up the mountain, his airbending robes fluttering madly around his body. “You were warned what would become of the world if you prioritized yourself over the Avatar spirit, and these are the consequences of your choice. Death. Destruction. Hatred. This is but a glimpse of the peril you failed to prevent.”

“But I stopped everyone!” Korra shouted. She flinched as Siyu’s brown eyes narrowed. “I stopped every threat. Defeated every enemy. I worked all my days to maintain peace and balance.”

“You were not decisive. You fought the same evils and negotiated the same peaces all your life. You always held back. You spend days with friends that you should have spent banishing vengeful spirits. You spent nights with your lover that you should have spent ripping out the roots of rebellions led by evil dictators. All of this could have been prevented. You chose otherwise.”

Korra shut her eyes and looked away as the flames blazed up the hill and trailed burning licks over her skin. She crouched, ready to let her failure incinerate her. A wild wind lifted her from the ground and threw her. Korra screamed as she flew through the air. 

The broken remnants of the Sato estate loomed above her when she landed. The gate stood strong between crumbling walls, the guardhouse empty. Korra stood and a sharp pain in her legs wobbled her like the unsteady beams of Asami’s mansion. She rushed to the gate, and the metal burned her hands. She pulled water from a hydrant and tried to cool it, but the gates dissipated the liquid. 

“If I failed the world because of my personal life, then why is this happening?” 

“Because the fate of the world and those you love are one and the same.” Avatar Aang stood at her side, his sad eyes blurred with tears, his gaunt face like a skull. Gray hairs sprouted like wire along his jaw and up beside his ears. “I was not only the last airbender, but the last Avatar of the age of innocence. My death was the death of balance. It was my death that caused the White Lotus to become so extreme.”

“They saw this state of affairs coming, and spent long nights arguing with me about it. A civil war split their order, and those with the ideals you know today won. They told me that I would need to detach myself from the world. I argued that I could not, because the Avatar belongs to the world. I loved a woman too much to be the Avatar this new White Lotus thought I needed to be. Even when Fire Nation assassins came for me and killed my son, I refused vengeance and violence. The White Lotus respected me. They respected my wishes.”

Korra gritted her teeth and again tried to cool the fiery gates. She squeezed her eyes shut as she poured a deluge towards the gates. Steel hissed like a cobra, threatening her. The gates burned red, steam rising into the air as they cooled. Korra ignored the pain lancing past her palm and fingers when she wrenched it open.

The house continued to crumble with every step. Skeletons lay trapped beneath collapsed rubble; some were small, some big, and all long ago passed away. Korra knew one of them. She knew them all. Tears streamed down her cheeks, the life leaking from her body.

She startled when the tall body of a shadowy spirit rose from the destruction. Golden symbols glowed on its face. Dark hands reached for Korra, and her bending was useless to stop its knife-like fingers from closing around her waist. A rumbling laugh shook the world. Korra felt the strength drain out of her.

“The Avatar has lost its way.” Avatar Kuan stood barrel-chested and proud at the spirit’s foot, staring defiantly up at it. The fur covering draped over his head was stained dark by blood. “The White Lotus found me as a child, and took me from my parents. I was their guinea pig. The methods so efficient and effective today were first attempted with me. The White Lotus wanted a weapon. A threat to deter the ever-growing power of the weapons mankind created. And they succeeded.”

“I became a creature of death, without mercy or emotion. I murdered the wicked, unaware of wickedness. I crippled criminals, unaware of my own crimes. When Harmonic Convergence came and Vaatu threatened the world with ten-thousand years of darkness, I dispatched the evil spirit brutally. Yet even in defeat, Vaatu won. The Avatar has become one of its agents, a cruel corruption of justice and its original spirit that brings little but darkness into the world of humans. A darkness that will destroy us all.”

The evil spirit let loose a roar, and tossed Korra away. Republic City passed beneath her. Yue Bay was a dried canyon. Air Temple Island lay in pieces. She continued over the evaporating ocean, watching as the world began to freeze. The northern Spirit Portal glowed red as blood. Long, branching fractures spread across the surface of the dome barrier closing off entrance. Korra landed beside it and stood on shaky legs.

A loud crack sounded the further splintering of the dome. Two transparent figures stepped out from the forest. Avatar Quiao’s light brown hair was held back by a wooden band. Avatar Shuang’s fingertips sparked with lightning matching the crimson of her robes. Each woman placed a hand on the barrier over the portal.

“We were blinded to the imbalance wrought upon the world,” they spoke in unison, one voice high and rich, the other low and timid. “And within ourselves. Siyu never saw it. He was the White Lotus’s greatest creation, a machine in mind and spirit. They perfected the process on us, and both he and the world suffered the results. We can only blame ourselves. Because of our blindness, your age now stands on the precipice between salvation and destruction. For the first time since Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, the Avatar must restore balance or it will become impossible. The spirits will see to it personally.”

The barrier over the portal cracked one more time, and shattered to pieces. A red beam flew into the sky. The portal sucked Korra in. She fought, but it was like fighting the tide carrying her out to sea. She was lifted off her feet and into the beam. 

When she opened her eyes, she sat propped up against the large base of a gnarled, twisted tree with roots diving deep into the rocks at its base. Dark spirits marched in grim lines through two portals on either side of the tree. The sky was a swirl of colors, beautiful and violent. Korra stood, shook away the fog clouding her brain, and looked up at the tree. An eye-shaped gash in the trunk was filled with a hardened, red sap. Within, dismembered pieces of some massive monster were frozen in place.

A bright light glowed within Korra’s chest, erasing the shadows of fear in her heart. “For too long, the Avatar spirit has been allowed to weaken, to grow twisted and corrupted. You are more than a weapon, Korra. You are the bridge between worlds, the bridge between humans and spirits, the symbol for peace for both. But in order to restore peace to humanity and the spirits, you must first rediscover your own humanity and restore peace to the Avatar spirit.”

“Who are you?” Korra asked. 

The light grew stronger. “I will show you.”

###

Korra opened her eyes, and found she was still on her bed in her rented hotel room in the Northern Water Republic. Her body glowed with a peaceful warmth. She was aware of the cold pressing against the windows from the storm outside, but could not feel it. She swung out of her bed and walked over to the window.

Outside, the snow still fell steadily, blanketing the world. It had not stopped since Korra arrived two days earlier. Bare trees, black and white like a sketch on paper, swayed and creaked in the wind. Every so often a wild polar bear dog would sprint across the street, or a flock off antlered eagles would fly across the gray sky. 

“I have grown weak,” Raava said. “I will not be able to help you like I did Wan and others. I am sorry, but this fight will depend on your own strength. Thankfully, you have already found your moral compass, the guiding star in the sky which the White Lotus stole from your previous lives.”

“What do you mean?” Korra asked. 

“The White Lotus has tried everything they could to prevent you from establishing emotional bonds, just like they did with others. Yet you have done so anyway. You have already proven your strength by forming friendships and finding love. Those connections have already changed you so much. And you will need them to restore balance to both yourself and the world. No Avatar has ever maintained balance in the world without first finding it within themselves.”

“Always remember those you love, Korra. They are the true source of your power.”

Korra continued to watch the snow fall. A select few were brave enough to drive their cars along the icy roads. One nearly lost control on the ice, but managed to straighten their vehicle before it crashed into a light pole. Just like she would need to. Korra smiled grimly. She supposed this Water Republic rebel she sought out could be a good start.

The phone on the nightstand rang like a bird’s shrill morning call, breaking the silence and making Korra jump. She crossed the room to answer, and the hotel clerk downstairs informed her that she had a phone call from the United Republic. Korra took a deep breath.

“Korra?”

Asami’s cheerful voice was a balm to Korra’s heart. The Avatar grinned. “Hi, Sami.”

“How’s it going? Sorry I didn’t call, but I just got home. Water was a little rough, it delayed my ship a few hours.”

“No problem. I didn’t notice.”

“So any luck yet? Or have you been settling in?”

“Both. I’m pretty sure I know where this rebel leader is, or at least how to find her. She doesn’t seem to be running, though. She has to know I’m here, and have an idea why, but it seems she isn’t scared.”

“Well, you can’t have that, can you?”

A joke, but it cut deep. “I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong, Korra?”

“I love you, Asami.”

“I love you, too.” She did not pause, which warmed Korra to her toes. “Are you okay?”

“What if I said I wanted to talk to this woman, and try to see her side?”  
This time there was a pause. “I’d say that’s perfectly logical, but very unlike you. I’d also say I hope you mean it. If you want to change the perception of the Avatar, this is a good opportunity.”

Asami always understood. She always knew the right thing to say, the best way to encourage down the right path. Korra wished her lover was there then, so she could properly show her appreciation. “Thanks, hon.”

“Hon?”

“Yeah…”

“You dork. Call me when you can.”

“I will. Stay safe. Remember to call Tenzin.”

“I will. Bye, Korra.”

“Bye, Sami.”

###

A blue sky reflected off the icy ground. Snow crunched beneath the worn boots of two heavily layered young men. Their bright, hopeful eyes shined the same blue, and they narrowed in a false threat as they approached.

“Come with us, Avatar,” the one on the left said, voice squeaking under the pressure of his false bravado.

Korra nodded and followed into a ramshackle hut that may have once been modern some four-hundred years ago. A fire burned in the hearth, animal furs covered the walls, and a map was spread across a single table, the corners held back by half-filled clay cups. Five people, two women and three men, were crowded around it. 

They backed away when Korra moved forward, all except for a lone woman with faded blue eyes, wrinkles of both age and grief lining her face, and the odd streak of gray through her raven hair. The lost color seemed to return when she saw Korra. 

“Hello, Avatar. I’m glad you agreed to meet with me.” She looked around the room, a quiet order for the others to leave that was quickly obeyed. “I worried you wouldn’t come, considering your reputation.

Korra looked around. Try as she might to change, the power of fear was too ingrained within her mind. “I’m trying to change. It’s a process, and one I hope to continue by meeting with you.”

A look passed over the woman’s face. Pride? It was hard to tell. “I’m glad to hear you say that. I’d heard so many stories that made me sad, but meeting you now, you’ve grown into a wonderful young woman. And so beautiful. I knew the moment I held you as a baby that you’d be a looker.”

“As a baby? What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“My name is Senna.” She stepped forward, looking up at Korra with tears in her eyes. “I’m your mother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger! I have to admit, I'm a little unsure of how to approach Senna. I should probably blast through Book 2 to reacquaint myself with her and make sure I don't completely change her.


	7. War

Korra rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck, and blew out a nervous sigh. In the midst of the cold and snow, she was a tense volcano, a boiling cauldron of jittery lava trying to contain itself. She turned to look down at Senna. Her mother. Maybe. Probably. 

“Ready?”

Her maybe probably mother nodded, no trace of the mirth which lit her face the previous night and most of their walk that morning. The vitality had again faded from her eyes, and the motherly figure was gone, replaced by the woman who had worked for years towards this day, this meeting with the Northern Water Republic’s President. 

“What’s the plan? What do you think I should do?”

“You’re the Avatar, sweetie,” Senna said. “You have a lot more experience with world leaders than me.”

“I don’t have any experience doing it your way,” Korra muttered.

Unlike her mother, who she had spent the long night asking questions of. Korra had listened proudly and with none too small an amount of envy to her mom’s efforts in opposition of President Unalaq. The demonstrations, the peaceful protests, the following she had gathered through information instead of violent instigation. Everything Korra was incapable of doing herself.

Senna’s husband Tonraq - Korra’s father, she thought with a hopeful smile - had been the one to handle the dirty work. It was his arrest that prompted Senna to work towards this meeting, and his release which she hoped to be the result of it. 

“Well then, I guess do what you normally do,” Senna said. “Be intimidating. But please, don’t start any violence personally. Unalaq has enough reason to throw me in prison beside your father already, I don’t want to give him another.”

“I promise, Mom.”

They stopped outside the towering double doors, blue as ice and shining much the same, leading into Municipal Hall, a large stepped building which used to be the Royal Palace and had since been fitted with modern comforts and supports. Korra had been there once before, and saw many of the same mementos of the past as she followed a pair of secretaries along the vaulting hallways. Paintings of past chiefs. Depictions of great battles. Statues of waterbending Avatars. Embroidered flags hung on the walls.

“Did the White Lotus ever teach you anything about your culture?” Senna asked.

“Very little.” Korra frowned. “I tried to learn more about it on my own, but I’m not much of a book reader. And I have…other worries.”  
“Just like your father.”

Up a flight of smooth, brightly gleaming stairs was another crisscross of hallways. Offices lined the walls to either side, and at the end was a set of double doors with three guards in dark blue suits. “Wait here, please,” a secretary said, and both entered what was presumably the President’s office.

Senna was sculpted of ice. Calm, cool, expression blank as she waited. In that moment, sweating like an icicle melting in the sun, Korra’s doubts returned. She wiped her forehead on her jacket sleeve and buried those doubts beneath the snow. Those questions could be asked later. A tiny hand rubbed her back. Senna smiled reservedly up at her.

“Be scary, but not physical. I’ll handle the talking.”

A secretary opened the door and waved them in.

President Unalaq was expectantly pompous when Korra entered his office. He leaned back in his tall-backed chair, his hair shone like there was snow melting in it, a faint base of makeup covered his face, and his glasses hung low while he stared down his nose at a document in his hand. He looked over as if surprised when Korra and Senna approached.

“Hello, Avatar,” Unalaq said. “This is a…happy surprise.”

Korra pursed her lips, wondering why he seemed genuinely relieved to see her. “I hope I can help.”

“As do I.” An infuriating smirk spread across his face. “Though our negotiations today will depend entirely on Senna. How are you, today?”

Senna sat unprompted in a chair across from Unalaq. “Happy and quite optimistic.”

“Good.” Unalaq removed his glasses, set down his document, and leaned forward, thin forearms resting atop the desk and long fingers intertwined with each other. “I suppose you wish your husband to be released now.”

“I told you I could contain our movement. I told you we did not need violence to make our point. You promised me you would consider release him. So please, consider it.’

“You have done as promised, but can you see how this makes me hesitate even more to release Tonraq? How do I know your protestors are not simply waiting for him to return before the peace of these past seven months melts like ice in the summer sun? Perhaps Tonraq will not be satisfied with peace, even if you are, and he returns to the violence that landed him in prison to begin with. You ask a lot of me to take such a risk.”

“Tonraq’s aggression was born of frustration. We tried peace for a long time and were ignored. It wasn’t until we struck a physical blow that you paid attention.”  
The doors opened and a cameraman shuffled meekly into the office. He held up his camera, and Senna was quick to stand and smile beside a man she hated while he snapped away. Korra had never mastered that talent. She could only smile nervously when Unalaq waved her over and imagine how awkward she would look when these pictures hit the papers the next day, just like she always looked awkward in these pictures. Once it was over, the cameraman set up shop in a corner to take a few “action” shots while the discussion continued.

“Avatar,” Unalaq said, somehow managing to both ignore the camera and expertly position himself for its lens, “Surely you see my side on this? This Tonraq was a dangerous man responsible for bloodshed across my nation. To release someone so dangerous would be considered foolish. It would make me look weak.”

Korra cleared her throat. “If you made a promise, you should keep that promise.” 

Unalaq frowned. His eyes narrowed, as if he had not expected any resistance from her. “And I am. I truly am. My decision has not been made. I simply need to hear a better argument.”

“What do you need?” Senna asked. “Another six months of peace? A year? My word that Tonraq will not turn back to violence?”

“Not even the complete dismantling of your following would convince me Tonraq would not bring them all back. I could kill them all tomorrow and I’d worry my brother would replace every single one of them.”

Korra’s jaw dropped, but she managed to snap it shut before the camera flashed. Brother? “What if I guarantee you Tonraq’s cooperation?”

“And just how would you do that?” Unalaq asked. Korra had thought he would like this idea. And he seemed to. But his annoyance and disappointment shone deeply in his eyes. 

“I’m the Avatar. A threat from me means more than from anyone else.”

Unalaq rubbed the pale stubble on his chin. “I will consider this. But I have other conditions.”

Korra was soon lost amidst a sea of towns she did not know and battles she had not seen, her brain muddled by talks of troop movements and demonstrators removing themselves from important government centers. The camera flashed away, Unalaq and Senna made arrangements to meet again, and a round of handshakes were exchanged before the cameraman left the office. Unalaq asked Korra to stay behind so they could speak privately. Senna snuck an anxious smile Korra’s way before leaving.

The door lock clicked into place like a cocked pistol. 

Unalaq turned furiously on Korra. His dark eyes stared down at her from sunken pits within his gaunt, fox-like face. “What are you doing talking, Avatar?”  
Korra faltered only a moment. She returned the glare. “My job.”

“Your job is to deal with rabble like this permanently and keep the peace. Like you did in the Fire Nation and when Jianjun ravaged the Earth Empire. It’s the job you were raised to do. Not to negotiate.”

“My job is to do whatever I think is best for the world.”

Unalaq stepped forward, too close. Korra could see the familiar disgust in his eyes, the derision building on his lips. “Your job is to do what the White Lotus tells you. What I tell you. And I’m telling you to walk out of my office, find that woman, and kill her. Now.”

“No.”

The Avatar felt the block of ice coming, but did not move. She allowed it to crack against the back of her head and shatter. She wobbled and fell to one knee. Unalaq stood triumphantly over her, a sneer on his lips. Just as she hoped. 

“We have seen every single one of your recent transgressions, Avatar. Such pathetic little rebellions are not unexpected, and we saw this one coming for some time. We always see them coming. Do you think we can not stop you? Do you think we cannot simply throw Tenzin in a prison until you cooperate? Do you not think we can arrange an assassination for your little girlfriend? You forget our power, Avatar.”

Unalaq showed the back of his hand, brought it towards Korra’s cheek. It stopped mere inches away and yanked back. The waterbender’s mouth opened to scream. His throat closed, muting him. The question remained in his expression even as Korra stood, a snarling grin on her face and dancing in her eyes. _Those who challenge you must always learn. You are the Avatar, spirit of balance and justice, the vessel through which Raava’s powers manifest to protect the world._ She almost laughed to think of the words the White Lotus had corrupted her with returning to destroy them. She nearly cried to think those words would now save her.

“It is you who forgets.” Korra’s eyes glowed, and the light surged through her body. Her voice echoed with thousands of lifetimes. “For too long the White Lotus has taken the Avatar’s power for granted. They act as if it is an extension of themselves, like a fist they only need a thought to order into striking. And for too long, a thought has been enough. No more! You have forgotten fear of the Avatar’s power since it has not been turned onto you.”

“Rebellion? Hah! This is war. A war you will lose. A war you cannot win. Come for my friends. Come for my parents. Come for the one I love. You will fail, and you will die. The world will know you for what you are, and the world will watch you all bleed. Only you will receive this chance, Unalaq. Release Tonraq. Grant Senna her requests. Walk away from this war now or never walk again.”

The Water Tribe President bent and twisted, his bones popping and tendons stretching. He stared pleadingly up at the Avatar, tears streaking down his lined cheeks. A moment and it was over. He crumbled unconscious to the ground with a thud. The door opened. Three members of his security team rushed into the office. They stared into the bright glow of the Avatar’s eyes and shrunk away.

 

###

“I’m serious!” Korra laughed. “I know it’s hard to believe, but you would if you met Bolin. You totally should. He may be slow goofball sometimes, but he’s an incredibly loyal friend. I couldn’t be happier to know him.”

Senna wiped away the tears falling down her laughing cheeks. “I would love to meet him. I’d love to meet all your friends. Once your father has been released, maybe we’ll do so.”

Korra’s face fell for a moment. “You aren’t going to stay and keep protesting?”

“Of course we are. But now that I’ve finally met my daughter again, I want to take advantage.” Senna rubbed again at her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry we let those awful people take you. I’m so proud of you for finding your way on your own.”

“I…didn’t do it on my own. Tenzin somehow managed to tame me and get me started. Then my friends helped me along. And Asami…I owe so much to Asami. I really hope you’ll like her. She is what made me want to change, to be a better person. I love her so much.”

“Then I will love her, too.” Senna wrapped an arm around her daughter. 

###

_Korra heard the keys jingle off the floor, the boots pound her way. She ducked her head even lower, until her chin was pressing into her chest, refusing to look up. Not even when Asami’s soft fingers brushed her hair back, and her cracking voice called Korra’s name._

_“What happened? Are you okay? Are you bleeding? Korra, please, what’s wrong?”_

_“I’m okay,” Korra whispered. “None of that blood is mine. It’s…it’s all someone else’s. Every single fucking drop.”_

_She heard her friend’s gasp, a cruel twist of the knife. Not Asami. Korra didn’t think she could take it if Asami walked away. She should have cleaned up. What was she thinking?_

_“Come on, Korra.” The Avatar did not resist as she was lifted to her feet. “Let’s get you in the shower.”_

_Half-an-hour later, there was no blood in the reflection in the mirror, but Korra could still feel it crawling over her, biting at her skin like ants. She rubbed down her arm with the heel of her palm, and the bites began to sting. She scratched at the sting with her fingernails until Asami ran over and stopped her._

_“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Korra said. “I can’t take the fear anymore.”_

_Asami guided her over to the bed. “What are you scared of?”_

_“Not me. I can’t take everyone else’s fear. Everywhere I go, I see it. In their eyes, in their expression, the way their lips quiver and their shoulders hunch. Tenzin and his family cower away, and I don’t blame them. I scarred him. Mako and Bolin are scared of me. Even you. You try your hardest to be there, to talk it through with me, and I really appreciate it, but I see it in your eyes, too. Everyone is scared of me. And they should be.”_

_“Do you have any idea what I did today, Sami? I ripped a person apart. Just like I would piece of bread. I didn’t even know what I was doing until it was over. His partners all watched. And then I killed them, too. There’s something wrong with me. Something I don’t want to be wrong with me anymore. I want to change. I’m going to change.”_

_“And you’ll need help.” Asami rubbed gently up and down her arm. The sting of the bits soothed and faded. “I’ll be here for you, Korra. So will Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, all of us. Because we know you are a good person. Better than even you realize.”_

_Korra didn’t stop the tears. Not around Asami. Her friend’s long arms encircled her, cradling her close. Korra fell into them and began to sob. She wished they were the last tears of regret she’d ever cry. They wouldn’t be. But they would be among the last._

_“You will change, Korra,” Asami whispered. “I’ll be here every step of the way. You can’t scare me off.”_

###

A knock on the door preceded a smiling, glowing face poking through. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but…”

The door banged open, and a tall, muscled man with long, black hair and an unkempt beard strolled into the room. Senna squealed and jumped up to greet him. Korra watched nervously, realizing who the man was. And also realizing her doubts whether these were her parents had just whisked away through the open door.

Once they had finished exchanging hugs and kisses, Senna turned to Korra. Her eyes were brighter than ever, the stress vanished from her face, the gray streaks in her hair seemingly nonexistent. “Tonraq, this is…”

“Korra.” The big man had a voice to match. “And she knows?”

Korra jumped up and vaulted over in a burst of air and dust. She wrapped her arms around her father and buried her face in his shoulder, ignoring the stench of prison which clung to his body. Her father. She smiled into him. 

“It’s great to see you, sweetie,” Tonraq said. Senna pressed into Korra’s back, her arms reaching around them both. “You’re so beautiful.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Korra said. “I’m sorry if I ever disappointed you.”

“You didn’t. Especially not now, when I have you to thank for busting me out.”

Senna moved back. “What?”

“Apparently whatever our daughter said to the President convinced him, or I’d say scared him, into releasing me.” Tonraq released Korra, crossed his arms across his massive chest, and smirked. A stance Korra knew all too well. “I told him we weren’t done. Not yet.”

“What happened after I left, Korra?”

The Avatar took a deep breath. “A lot. And I need to tell you everything if you’re going to be safe. I am not losing my parents now that I’ve finally found them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know, Unalaq being a bad guy, what a shocker. I didn't do that to rip on him or anything, he was just a natural to be a White Lotus considering he was a Red Lotus in the show. Something that goes unmentioned in The Legend of Korra was how important some of its members were, as we saw in The Last Airbender.
> 
> As always, any and all comments are greatly appreciated. Especially so I know people are still reading.


	8. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a calm, set up chapter. Things are going to kick in from here.

Gentle music floated throughout the room, a perfect symphony of strings, horns, and cymbals in complete contrast to the chaos reigning over Korra’s brain. She was pretty sure her smile was failing at happy and instead looked crazed. She was pretty sure her eyes were too wide, making her appear insane. That was definitely sweat pouring down her face like she was standing under a shower.

No one said a word to her about it. Mako and Bolin were at the bar with her father, all three speaking in hushed voices. Asami sat with her mother, calm and collected, somehow not looking any more nervous than if she was on the phone with her secretary. Opal, Tenzin, and Pema were sitting at the same table as Korra, mercifully silent about Korra’s silence. Their children had insisted on patrolling. Every so often their footsteps would bang against the ceiling above.

Friends and family are a scab for your enemies to pick. The more you have, the better the chance they bleed you dry. The ballroom was like looking in a mirror for the first time after a hard battle and seeing the wounds for the first time. There were too many scabs to pick. The responsibility of keeping them safe pressed down on Korra’s shoulders like an exercise bar with too many weights piled on. She was pushing with all her strength, but it kept digging into her muscles and pushing at the bones.

The easy willingness of her friends and loved ones to support her should have made her feel better. It should have made her happy. All they had done was make her feel guilty. With all the crimes she had committed, she didn’t deserve such unquestioning loyalty.

###

_“I can’t force you to do what I want,” Korra said. “I could try, and the old me would have. But the old me also wouldn’t have bothered thinking about any of this before starting a fight. The White Lotus will come for you all now. They’ll try to hurt you to get at me. I want to be sure you’re all as safe as you can be.”_

_Mako spoke first. “Chief Beifong would probably be happy to get rid of me just to get rid of you. Besides, I deserve some vacation time.”_

_Bolin held Opal’s hand. “Zaofu is probably the safest place in the entire world. Opal should be fine there, and once she is settled and her mother is up to date, I’ll come join you.” His wife smiled and nodded her agreement._

_Tenzin’s face was solemn as ever. “The air temples are difficult to assault and even more difficult to conquer. I can think of no place else I’d rather my family wait and weather this storm.”_

_Korra ducked her head when her parents stood. She had finally found her parents, only to drag them into this mess within days. The White Lotus would have gone after them anyway, and her threat to Unalaq would hopefully keep them safe for a while, but it still nagged at her like a ram beetle biting her arm._

_“We trust all our followers with our lives,” Tonraq said. He frowned. “I want to stay with you, Korra, but our work in the North is not done. I’m sorry.”_

_“Don’t be, Dad,” Korra said. She somehow held her tongue before she could mention not deserving it._

_Asami smiled at her when it was her turn. “Like you have to ask.”_

_Korra didn’t deserve this kind of unquestioning support. She would do her best to reward those she cared about for their faith in her. “You don’t know how much this means to me. For so many years I had no one. And I get it. The White Lotus turned me into someone that didn’t deserve friends or family. Now that I have it, I will not let them take you. I promise. Things are going to get rough. Before it’s over, we’ll probably have a lot of nights where we wonder why we ever decided to take the White Lotus on. A lot of nights where we miss each other. But at least for tonight, we’re together, and we’re going to celebrate.”_

_A round of cheers boomed through the room._

###

Even above the dull roar of voices, Korra heard the running feet along the floor. She looked up as Meelo landed at her side in a gust of air. Ikki had stopped near her mother, her mouth flapping like a curtain in an open window during a storm, and while Jinora took a more dignified route through the room towards Korra. Rohan took a seat beside his father.

In that moment it was hard to imagine them as they had been when Korra first met them; Rohan had yet to be born, Meelo was a short, bald terror, and Ikki a slightly taller, more vocal one. Jinora had been much the same gentle, mature soul, but what was once immense potential for bending and the spiritual had realized itself, as she was quite possibly the most powerful airbender in the world. She had realized her potential as a gorgeous young woman as well.

Jinora and Meelo both smiled and hugged Korra, and it was hard to remember when three children had been scared to approach the violent teenager who left their father bleeding on his knees.

“Are you going to visit us at the air temples?” Meelo asked. His hair continued to grow shaggy, covering his ears and forehead. The teen boy refused to let anyone cut it. 

“As soon as I can,” Korra said. “After all, I’m still learning from your sister. Is that okay, Master Jinora?”

The oldest of Tenzin’s children grinned timidly. “You should practice on your own until you can come see me. That’s an order.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Why are we hiding, anyway?” Meelo glared at nothing in particular. “Look at everyone in this room. We can take these White Lotus jerks. If you were to let the world know about everything they’ve done, we’d get even more help and send them running.”

“We have no way of knowing how much of the world belongs to the White Lotus.” Tenzin’s baritone calmness contained the slightest crack. “Meelo, you and Ikki are old enough to know the truth now. We do not know for sure just how powerful this enemy is. We cannot simply attack them. They pose a grave threat. I wish you could stay my rambunctious young son forever, but you are an airbender, and a powerful one. You are almost a master, like your sisters. It is time take upon the responsibility that title demands.”

For just a moment, Meelo’s cocky demeanor faded. “Okay, Dad.” His smirk returned. “Anyone who wants to hurt Korra is asking for it, but I’ll put aside my anger for now. No promises if they come after me, though.”

Korra ruffled his hair, prompting an annoyed pout from the teen. “Enough serious talk for tonight,” she said. “Tonight’s for fun. If we don’t see each other for a while, we need to have enough fun tonight to make up for it. Right?”

“Right!” Meelo beat a fist against his chest. “No one parties like Meelo! Can I have a drink?”

Tenzin’s icy stare chilled the boy’s faint hopes.

Korra decided to take her own advice, and stood from her chair to mingle with her friends. Plates piled along the bar counter as she and Bolin competed to see who could eat the most of Pema’s dumplings, and then the peanuts behind the bar. Against all her better judgment, Korra sat quietly while Opal, Jinora, and Ikki combed, gelled, twisted, and spirits knew what else to her hair. Mako and Meelo gave her a spirited fight in the courtyard behind the main mansion. Asami’s gym gave her and Tenzin a quiet meditation space for an hour. Everyone except Tenzin was roped into a game of hide and seek suggested by Rohan. 

The night passed too quickly. By the time the entire procession found themselves outside on their way to Asami’s workshop, the moon had already begun its descent. The breeze off the sea was warm, but dry. A perfect night. There wouldn’t be enough of them now. Too many alone. Too many unable to sleep out of paranoia. Too many spent fighting when paranoia came true.

Maybe half-an-hour passed before they left the workshop, yet the sun seemed to have already plummeted halfway to the horizon. A ribbon of blue had already begun to infiltrate the sparkling black blanket above. The guests said they goodbyes as gradually as the stars faded. Korra and Asami stood outside the front door, waving as Bolin, Opal, and Mako finally made their way to their vehicles and out of the gates. Purple and pink lightened the eastern sky.

“That was a lot of fun,” Korra said.  
Asami smiled, took her hand, and led her back inside. 

The rear half of the Sato estate climbed a steep, rocky slope where the land raised suddenly into a sharp peak. A flat shelf along its face pointed out to sea. Korra landed on it in a swirl of air, waited a moment for her and Asami’s clothes to settle before letting her girlfriend go. A flock of chameleon gulls floated above the water in the bay. Two dove into the water and emerged with fish in their mouths, shining silver in the sliver of sun peeking over the heights.

Asami sighed calmly, her eyes closed and her hair dancing on the wind. “I’m going to miss this. Do you think I should hire extra security? There probably isn’t much reason to attack my mansion without me here, but it still might be a good idea.”

“I think you should stay,” Korra said.

“What?”

“I have no idea what’s going to happen now. I have no idea what the White Lotus will do. All I know is they’ll try to hurt you and everyone else I care about, and if they can’t get to you, they’ll hurt you however they can. I don’t want to see everyone you’ve worked so hard for ruined because you weren’t there.”

“Don’t worry about it, Korra. I’ve rebuilt Future Industries before. I can do it again.”

“You shouldn’t have to! Not for me.”

Asami turned to face Korra, and it was all the Avatar could do not to stare back. The wind whipped Asami’s hair, and the midnight black glowed like the sea beneath the moon. “It’s not like I’m being forced. I want to help you.”

“I know. And I’m very grateful, but you helping me hurts you. Helping me is hurting everyone I don’t want to see hurt. My parents were already in danger, and I just put an even bigger target on them. Tenzin has to hide his family in a temple and worry about them every day while he travels with me. Mako might be ruining his career. Bolin and Opal have to hide out, and are placing an entire province in danger. What kind of Avatar am I that I can’t even be sure I can protect those closest to me, let alone the entire world?”

“What’s wrong with you? You’re not forcing anyone into anything. We all volunteered. We all want to help because we all care about you.”

And would they still care about her when the White Lotus had reduced everything in their life to ashes? “Asami…”

“Korra, you’re an amazing person and Avatar. None of us would be with you if you weren’t. Despite everything you’ve been through you’re still as brave, selfless, and loyal a person as I’ve ever met, when those are the exact qualities the White Lotus tried to torture out of you. I couldn’t be prouder of you. We are all proud of you.”

“That makes me so happy.” Korra hugged her lover. “It really does. I want so badly to live up to the standard you hold me to. I just don’t want you to regret your decision once it’s too late and end up hating me.”

“Never. I love you too much to ever regret supporting you the best I can.”

“I love you, too. And I’ll always be there to support you just like you are for me. It’s the least I can do, and will never be enough. Whatever I have to do to keep you safe, Sami, I’ll do it.”

The beautiful non-bender raised a challenging eyebrow. “I can take care of myself. You know that better than anyone.”

“I know! I know, I didn’t mean to suggest you can’t. I was trying, you know, to say I’ll be there for you and all that. That I want to take care of you…no, that sounds bad, too. Damn it, Sami, you know what I’m saying!” Korra pouted, realizing. “You stupid jerk. You know how easy it is for you to tease me.”

“Yep.” Asami laughed prettily, like she did everything prettily. Even covered in oil or fighting criminals, whether stuffing her face with dumplings or snoring while she slept, everything she did somehow managed to look gorgeous. “Forgive me?”

“Always.”

Asami’s personal passenger jet waited on the runway of Republic City International later that morning, the gear of Future Industries emblazoned on the tail. Korra took her seat beside Asami, her face white as snow. She had never truly adjusted to planes. Flying through the air using her bending? No problem. For some reason sitting in a machine designed for the purpose of flying upset her every time.

“You’re sure this is where you want to strike first?” Asami asked as the plane taxied out onto the runway.

Korra had put a lot of thought into her first strike. Weeks. Years. Her entire life. No matter how many options presented themselves, her mind always returned to one. “Absolutely.” The plane shuddered as it lifted off the ground. “Little late now, huh?”

Republic City shrunk away outside the window. Korra wondered when she would next see it, if ever again. She had come to the city as a teenager to learn airbending from Tenzin, and quickly found a home and friends. No matter where she traveled, she always had somewhere to come back to. Life in Republic City had transformed her into an entirely different being, and inspired the way to come, for better or worse. She wanted to see it again. She closed her eyes, clenched her jaw, and promised herself that just like every other time she left, she would return victorious, to cheering crowds and celebrations. And this time she would be worth it.


	9. Reunion

Dying tears streamed down walls of ice as the fire spread between them, turning the great wooden stilts of the watchtowers to ash and charring the blue stones of the barracks and kitchen. A power pole cracked like a toppled tree and bounced off the ice. Only the sparring courtyard, isolated from the remainder of the compound on its platform, remained untouched. The symbol of the Order of the White Lotus taunted Korra where it was painted atop it, somehow as perfect as ever.

She had dreamed of this day since her arrival at the compound which had served as her childhood prison. As she grew older and more powerful, the fantasies had become more explicit. The melted puddle that remained of the walls. The black skeletons and toppled stone of the buildings. The snapping of necks. The screams of the burning. The icy shatter of bones. The blood streaking the snow. She had imagined standing in the sparring ring covered in gore, a wild grin on her face while she waited for the shivering survivors to come test her. 

At least she still had the melting walls, if not the melting bodies. 

The White Lotus sentries standing guard when Korra arrived sat bunched together on a mound of snow nearby, unconscious and bound together. Alive. She had never imagined them alive at this point. She had never imagined Asami by her side, either. At least an hour had passed since the fight ended, but Korra swore she could still feel the electricity crackling off the glove over her lover’s right hand. The glove that spared rather than killed, on the hand of a woman that had taught Korra to spare rather than kill. Weakness, the voices told her. A mistake. They cannot live. All that comes of their living is your sorrow. There is no scenario where their continued lives do not return to haunt you.

Korra reached over and grabbed the heavy woolen glove covering Asami’s left hand. No words had been exchanged before the assault regarding these sentries. No pleas for mercy. No speeches. Asami had been prepared to see the ugly side of the Avatar once again. Instead she had inspired only the best, as she always did and always would. 

“This isn’t like I thought it would be,” Korra muttered.

“In a good or a bad way?” Asami asked. Her mitten squeezed Korra’s bare hand. The material glowed with the warmth beneath.

“I don’t know. I suppose vengeance never feels particularly good unless you’re an evil bastard. This feels no different than busting up some terrorist camp or crime lord’s estate. Like the history and all the reasons to enjoy this carnage don’t matter.”

“This was your home for a long time. No one likes to see their home burn.”

Korra snorted, then lifted a finger to point at the dying embers among the collapsed stones of one of the smaller buildings already ravaged. “I have many reasons to want that to burn.”

###

_Korra pulled and pulled and scratched and kicked, but the big hand around her small wrist only dragged her along even harder. For just a moment, she considered firebending at the mean man, but that would only get her in worse trouble. So she kept pulling and scratching and kicking._

_“It’s not fair!” she squeaked. “I don’t want to kill the otter penguin! It didn’t do nothing wrong!”_

_“You can never hesitate to take a life,” the White Lotus man said. His voice was cold as his fingers and scary. “We will make sure you learn to never hesitate, however we must.”_

_Another one stood outside the Cell. He opened the door when the man dragging Korra along approached, and his frown was the last thing she saw before she was thrown into the darkness inside. The door thundered shut behind her._

_Korra tried to light a fire, but it was too cold and all that steamed off her fingertips was weak smoke. The floor was like ice, so bad it burned through her pants. It was too dark to see the walls, but she could feel the snow on the other side, making the room colder with every second._

_She hated the Cell more than anything else. No where else made her feel so helpless or small. If that stupid otter penguin was in front of her right then, she would have gladly killed it. She would kill a million of them if it got her out. That’s what they wanted. That’s why they made her life so terrible. They wanted to make her something terrible. It was working. The part of her that just wanted to go back home and be a normal little girl again was drowned out by the voices in her head telling her to give in._

_They didn’t let her out until the next morning. Korra sat in the far corner from the door, huddled as far into herself as she could manage. A strong pair of arms lifted her off the ground and heat flowed into her body off his fingers, just hot enough to chase off the chill without burning. “Are you ready to listen, Avatar?”_

_“Y-y-yes.”_

_The firebender brought her up the platform to the sparring ring. A bunch of her guards were standing around the otter penguin in the middle. They backed away as Korra was brought forth. She looked away for just a moment, back to the Cell, reminding herself why she had to kill the poor little animal._

_She turned back, and gasped. Instead of an otter penguin a man stripped down to his underwear knelt in the sparring ring. Blood ran down his face from somewhere in his hair. His left eye was swelling shut. Korra almost fell when her feet hit the ground. A large hand palmed her back and gently nudged her forward. The man looked up, and tears fell down his cheeks._

_“Kill him.”_

_Korra looked at the man who had carried her. “No, no I was supposed to kill the otter penguin!”_

_“This man snuck into this compound to take you. He is a direct threat. Threats are disposed without mercy or hesitation.” He looked back over his shoulder. “Or do you prefer the Cell?”_

_A snowflake floated gently to rest on the back of Korra’s neck and sent shivers through her body. She refused to look back. She refused to cry._

_“Every threat, no matter how minor, must be dealt with mercilessly. You are the Avatar. End him.”_

_Korra clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes. Lightning crackled at her fingertips._

###

Even now, tied up, helpless, and clawing his way back into consciousness, that man looked at Korra as if she was weak. As if she was that same little girl worth nothing more than derision because she hesitated. That he was the threat seemed not to matter. She had to admire his dedication if nothing else. 

“You’re better than them,” Asami said. 

“I know.” Korra refused to be angry. She watched the compound burn and realized her mistake. “This is what they want. Even if the anger is turned against them, it is still anger. I’m still doing what they raised me to do; Burn everything, fight, destroy my enemies.”

“You can fight and still remain the better person you’ve become.”

Korra smiled up at Asami. “I hope so.”

“I know so.” She glared over at the restrained White Lotus. “I have complete faith in you, Korra.”

“Thanks, Sami.” The Avatar marched over to her captives. “Time to talk, asshole.”

She marched the captured sentries outside the compound one by one, and tried her hardest not smile when she returned alone for another to find them huddled closer and closer together, fear shaking the bodies of the remainder each time. Afternoon passed into evening. Evening passed into a gray-skied night. A hazy sliver of moon lightened the clouds where it passed through the sky, the only decoration on the blank slate. Wet snow shined on her knuckles like blood.

The last of the White Lotus was the youngest of them, the only unscarred, unhardened face of the bunch. He shimmied across the snow, desperate to escape. Korra followed until his back hit a hill of collapsed stones. 

She rubbed her knuckles, cracked them, the echo sharp as a breaking bone in the dead night. “Tell me what I want to know and you’ll escape this unharmed. Lucky for you, your friends told me most of what I wanted to know. All you have to do is tell me if they lied or not.”

“Anything!” The sentry’s voice was high, cracked, rough as gravel from smoke and fear. “I’ll tell you anything.”

“Good. You look new, so I’m not expecting too much.” Korra unfolded a marked up map. “First, tell me if you know of any other White Lotus hideouts that aren’t already circled on this map.”

He studied the landscapes, forehead tense as he thought it over, as if his brain was about to bust through his skull. “Maybe here,” he said, pointing to a blank section of the Fire Nation. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard rumors. That’s the only one I can think of, I promise!”

“Good.” Korra folded the map back up and handed it to Asami. She then took a sheet of paper from her lover and held it up. “I need you to really focus hard now. This is much more important. These are all the names your friends gave up. I need you to think really, really hard, as hard as you can, and tell me if you know any others, and just as importantly whether any of these names are lies.”

The sentry hesitated, as expected. Giving up nobodies like himself was one thing, but now she was asking him to give up the men who would kill him if Korra failed, and might kill him before she could stop them anyway. She would have been disappointed if he showed no resistance at all. And bored. 

She moved deliberately, letting the terrified young bastard study every movement as thin fingers of snow lifted off the ground to float in the air. They circled him, sometime speeding up, sometime slowing down. Korra’s arms snapped away from her body, and the ends of the fingers sharpened to deadly points. The snow steamed beneath the sentry’s body. Her outstretched arms swung forward, and the points halted inches away from the various vulnerable veins throughout his body.

“Raiko!” the sentry shouted. “Raiko isn’t White Lotus. Whoever told you that is lying.”

“How do you know?”

“I was there when he told Unalaq and Syuchi no. He refused them no matter what they offered him. I’m sure he’s not one of us.”

“Good. Anyone not on the list that should be?”

Again, silence. Korra pressed an icy point against his neck. When his lips remained shut, she pressed another into his thigh. 

“Kichiro!” the sentry gasped. “I don’t see Kichiro’s name!”

Korra checked the list. “Who’s Kichiro?”  
“I’m not sure exactly. I only know the name. He doesn’t work for any government. He’s only White Lotus. Others tell me he isn’t real but I hear his name a lot. He might even be a Grand Lotus.”

The snow melted and fell to the ground. A pinprick purple bruise marked the sentry’s neck. “Okay. Time to join your friends.”

Asami lifted him off his feet and wrenched his hands behind his back. “No, no, wait!” His eyes went wide and his voice was a mouse’s squeak. “Please don’t! I told you everything I know!”

Outside the walls, a tower of ice stood tall above the compound. Korra bent an opening and tossed the sentry into the pile of bound bodies where the others lay in the snow. The sentry looked around at his companions, confused.

“I’m sure the White Lotus will learn of this assault soon. So if you can’t escape, don’t worry. I’m sure your piece of shit friends will come along to free you.” Korra closed the opening and turned her back on the White Lotus, the compound, and the childhood she had spent there.

“Kichiro.” Asami frowned as they marched back through the snow. “They all mentioned him but none of them knew who he was. He might just be a scare tactic, some name used to keep people in line, but they all mentioned him. Even the captains.”

“That’s the last name on that list I expected you to worry about.” Korra’s frustration got the better of her, and she gently pushed Asami behind her before she began bending the snow out of their path. Her arms waved gently back and forth while she walked, clearing the way ahead. “You have a few friends I recognize on there.”

“And I’m very glad none of them are actually my friends right now. As far as they ever knew, I was the Avatar’s latest distraction. This Kichiro, though, if he is a Grand Lotus than he could be the first one to be found out since Iroh during the Hundred Year War. If nothing else it is a name to ask the names on this list.”

Korra looked back over her shoulder. The compound had been swallowed by the falling flurries well back, but she would forever see it in her memories. “Leaving them alive only lets them warn him. If he exists at all. I can’t help but feel I made a mistake.”

“You didn’t.” Asami rubbed her girlfriend’s back. “They will remember that mercy, especially when their superiors are beating and killing them for their failure. There is no more effective approach to toppling a powerful structure than to attack its base, and those sentries are the White Lotus’s base.”

“You’re really good at this.” Korra turned and grinned. “You’re so awesome, Sami.”

A deep, threatening howl rode on the wind. Korra froze. Snow crunched heavily to her right. She turned just in time to catch a flash of white fur pounce before she was knocked to the ground. A reactionary blast of air barely managed to push the beast back. A rough, pink tongue licked at her face.

Asami sprinted forward, but Korra held up a hand to stop her. The Avatar gently pushed herself from under the polar bear dog’s considerable weight. It barked happily, but it’s eyes were wary. Scarred. Eyes that had seen and done too many terrible things, no matter how much it did not want to. The tip of its left ear was missing. A scar paled a strip of a dark nose.

“Naga?”

The polar bear dog barked happily and ducked her head. She lifted Korra up with the strength of her neck alone, and the Avatar wrapped her arms around the long stretch of thick white fur. 

“Naga! I can’t believe it’s you! Asami, this is my polar bear dog that I had as a kid. I can’t believe she remembers me. You were always so smart, weren’t you girl?”

Another happy bark answered her.

“That’s incredible,” Asami whispered. She inched closer, one hand stretching tentatively towards Naga. The polar bear dog bared her teeth, and Asami pulled back.

“It’s okay, Naga. Asami is my girlfriend. Not a girl friend like you, but my girlfriend. You should treat her the same way you treat me, okay? Come here, Asami, she’ll be okay. Naga’s real smart and super friendly.”

Brave as ever, Asami again approached. Naga watched warily, but soon melted into Asami’s touch, tongue lolling happily. Korra grinned. She and Naga had always been so alike. Soft white fur as comfortable as any mattress Korra had ever slept on lulled her eyes closed, just like it always had.

“I’m so happy to see you, girl. I can’t believe you found me.”


	10. The First Move

Korra was beginning to think that flying wasn’t so bad.

Maybe Naga was the reason why. After a heated debate in which her pilot and attendants nearly quit, Asami had convinced them to allow the polar bear dog in passenger seating with them. Naga never left Korra’s side. Every time Korra stood, whether to use the bathroom or get a drink or simply stretch her legs, she would whine and follow the Avatar until Korra sat back down. 

Maybe it simply had to do with acclimation. Do something enough and you grow used to it. It worked with senseless murder, Korra thought with a grimace. Why not sitting in a vehicle soaring thousands of feet off the ground?

“Naga!” Asami squealed, giggling as a giant pink tongue slurped at her face. 

Korra grinned. There had been no way of knowing how those two would get along with each other. It was hard enough to believe that Naga remembered and still loved her after so long, and Asami had never mentioned anything about pets, or interacted with one in front of Korra besides Pabu. The first day had been tense. Naga stalked along at Korra’s side, watching warily every time Asami approached and baring her teeth whenever they touched. Korra had worried that years in the wild had sharpened Naga’s social manners to an unapproachable edge. Then she woke up on the plane, stretched, and heard the dog panting happily. She looked over to find Asami rubbing Naga’s stomach, one giant leg beating at the back of a chair like a hammer every time a fingertip passed over a certain spot.

Outside the window, there was nothing to see but a vast expanse of ocean. Sometimes Korra thought she saw ships skimming the surface, the tiny dots swarming like ants over the blue. She was growing accustomed to flying, sure, but she was a Water Republic girl. The one aspect of her culture allowed by the White Lotus had been life on the sea. She spent the long months learning waterbending serving on ships. She passed the ice dodging rite of passage at nine-years-old. The smell of salt and fish and ships were a comfort allowing her to live in a fantasy of normalcy.

A demanding yelp broke Korra way from her daydreaming gaze. Naga’s ears were perked straight up, her head tilted as if listening for something. A moment passed and they relaxed back to the side of her head and she flopped to the ground, her tail wagging happily.

“I’m so glad she likes me,” Asami said. “I was really worried.”

“Who wouldn’t like you?” Korra said. She shifted across the aisle, pulled Asami from her seat, flopped down into it much the same as Naga would have, and pulled her girlfriend into her lap. “You’re perfect. It sickens me. You should at least have a mole or ugly hands or a grating voice or be totally egotistic, but nope, you’re perfect.”

Asami buried her face, red as the lining of her jacket, into Korra’s shoulder, and her lips pressed softly against the Avatar’s neck. “Sweet-talking suck up.”

Korra rested her cheek on the soft, sweet-smelling hair atop her girlfriend’s head, and smiled. More in more she found her thoughts wandering in these little moments. Possibilities made her smile like an idiot, her mind swimming with potential futures Korra was scared to think about in case the thought alone tempted danger to disrupt those futures. Dreams of a day where she could wake fearlessly in bed, wrapped around Asami. Where they did not have to hide. Maybe even that far off day where they were married and had children, incredulous as the idea seemed at the moment. 

###

_“I’m surprised to see you here.” Asami said. Her eyes were weary, her face slack with fatigue, but her makeup looked as if she had put it on five minutes ago. How did she do that? “Something wrong?”_

_“No, not at all.” Korra rubbed nervously at the back of her neck. Her eyes roamed aimlessly around the foyer. “I was just hoping to see you, if that’s okay?”_

_“Tempting, but I’m pretty beat tonight. Hard day in the factory.”_

_“No! No, not like that.” Why was this so hard? Asami had been her friend for years. They’d spent dozens of nights just hanging out together. “Jeez, is that really what we are now?”_

_“Kind of.” Asami frowned. “At least when we’re alone. Actually, a night relaxing sounds good. Should we order out?”_

_Korra smirked and crossed her arms. “Not necessary. I did the cooking tonight.” She gave her best pout when Asami shuddered. “Hey! I promise, it’s good. No sea prunes or weird fish. I worked hard on this. Just give it a chance.”_

_“Okay.” Asami sighed. “I suppose there are worse ways you could hurt me than a bad meal.”_

_The two shared small talk over a meal of sautéed shellfish and authentic Water Republic salads made with vegetables from Korra’s home nation. A meal Asami had to pretend to hate just to annoy Korra before admitting it was pretty good, prompting the Avatar to sigh the way she often did after narrowly avoiding danger in battle. Despite her promise, there was no way to know how good food is until you get an opinion besides your own, and she had never been the best of cooks._

_Asami’s fatigue melted as they shared bowls of ice cream. Not a proper dessert, but it was all she had in the house and Korra wasn’t brave enough to try baking. The brilliant young CEO came alive as she spoke. Her emerald eyes shined with brilliance and deep thought, her hands gestured and drew invisible lines across the tabletop, and her voice vibrated with excitement. Korra found herself quickly absorbed in the subject, asking only what questions necessary to understand. She found herself thinking Asami would make an amazing teacher. The nervousness freezing the Avatar earlier had steamed away._

_“If this Avatar thing doesn’t work out, I’d be happy to hire you as my chef,” Asami joked. “Interested?”_

_“Very,” Korra snorted. “I had a lot of fun tonight. We don’t do this enough.”_

_“I know, I missed it. Things have been kind of weird lately. I understand why, but we were friends long before we ever had sex. My friend Korra is the one I wanted to have sex with to begin with.”_

_“Same here.” The dead silence of night was interrupted by the buzzing of the kitchen lights. “In fact, I was kind of hoping, um, we could have more nights like this since, you know, we do get along and we’re obviously attracted to each other, oh man…”_

_Asami placed a hand on Korra’s forearm. “Easy there. Just say it.”_

_“I like you, Sami. A lot. I know I’ve given a lot of stupid reasons why I shouldn’t be in a relationship with you and been a real bitch sometimes, but I hope you’re still interested. I don’t want to dismiss you as a fling anymore. You haven’t ever been a fling, no matter how much I told myself you were.”_

_“And everything you ever told me why we shouldn’t give us a shot?”_

_“You should think it all over. I’m hoping that afterwards you will still want to be my girlfriend.” Korra turned away as the heat rushed to her cheeks like twin fires beneath her eyes. “And if not, I’ll be very happy to call you my friend.”_

_Asami brushed her knuckles the length of Korra’s hair. “You’re so adorable. I’ve thought those reasons over hundreds of times.”_

_“I figured. You’re a thinker.”_

_“Yes, I am.”_

_“So…?”_

_Asami leaned forward, gently tugged at Korra’s hair, and pulled her into a kiss._

###

“You know, you’re so adorable when you’re thinking hard about something,” Asami said.

“What do you mean?”

“You stick your bottom lip out like this.” Korra watched her girlfriend demonstrate. “And you get this crease across your forehead. Plus, for whatever reason, your biceps flex. Like you want to fight your brain but can’t.”

“I do not!”

“Whatever you say.”

Korra began to protest further, but settled for a pout. 

Naga’s head perked up, and she began to bark fiercely, running back and forth down the aisle. Korra gently removed Asami from her lap just before the polar bear dog jumped to put her paws on the Avatar’s lap. A high-pitched whine tore at her throat.

“What is it girl?”

The door to the pilot’s cabin burst open, and a flight attendant rushed out as the plan rocked violently. Naga began to howl. Asami rushed towards the attendant. Korra slipped over to the window and looked outside. A wing had caught fire. A pillar of ice ripped through it, the plane lurching again. 

“There are fighter planes attacking,” Asami said. 

Korra smirked. “Not a bad first move.”

She waited patiently as the jet lost altitude. Panicked voices in the pilot’s cabin were muffled by the closed door. Once the aircraft had fallen far enough, Korra sent Asami to retrieve the pilot and co-pilot. She jumped onto Naga’s back and pulled Asami up with her. 

“Hang on, everybody.”

Sucking winds reached in from outside the breach she tore in the side of the plane and tugged like a giant fist with hold of her shirt, trying its best to pull her out of the plane. Korra waited. The others began to scream. Naga howled. Korra waited. 

When she was sure the jet had descended far enough, she closed her eyes and let Raava’s spirit run through her. “Jump!” she said with the authority of thousands of voices.

Gravity pulled them away from each other, but Korra kept everyone close to her as they fell. Naga’s legs worked furiously at the nothingness in search of something. Korra calmly watched the deep blue rush up at her. Asami’s arms gripped strongly around her waist. A familiar, comforting grip. The thought came at an absurd time. 

Korra’s arms waved back and forth, encircling them all within an orb of airbending. From the bottom, she sent forth a surge of wind to slow them down. Water sprayed into the air and bounced off the orb. Once they had slowed to a safe speed and distance, Korra dissipated the orb, pulled the ocean up to meet them, and splashed into the water. She quickly bounced them back above the surface and froze a platform large enough to hold them all.

Breathless lungs sucked in great gasps of air. The flight attendants closed in to hug Korra once she dismounted Naga. “Thank you, Avatar Korra!” one of them sobbed. “You saved our lives.”

The sound of engines in the sky roared above. “Don’t thank me yet,” Korra said. Her eyes glowed as white and bright as the midday sun. “We still have company.”

She waited until the planes burst through the bottom of the clouds. Three of them, in V formation and plunging threateningly towards the block of ice Korra had created. She jumped on top of the water and dashed forward, sending up a trailing spray behind her as she tried to create as much distance as possible before beginning the fight. Two of the planes broke off their path to chase her. The third continued towards the others.

An orb of air surrounded Korra, following by rotating bands of water and fire. She launched herself into the air as the planes approached, easily avoiding the machine gun spray aimed her way. They split off to pass her, one on her left and the other to her right. Korra shot forth the water surrounding her to snatch the plane to her right around its tail. An effortless heave slammed it into the water and broke it in half. 

The other circled and fired, its bullets spinning away harmlessly before they could penetrate Korra’s orb. The pilot pulled it up towards the clouds. Korra cloaked the aircraft in fire, swirling around it like a complex dress. The pilot screamed and hit his eject button. He did not float far after opening his parachute before Korra encircled his waist with water to catch him. She would need at least one alive for questioning.

Behind her, the third plane was quickly closing in on Asami and the others. The Avatar flew forth as quickly as she could, closing the distance in a flash. Bullets broke away chunks of ice as the plane fired, driving those on the platform towards the far edge. Korra sent the plane into a spiraling freefall with a blast of wind. When the pilot ejected, he bounced off the upturned tail, unable to open his parachute before he fell into the sea.

Korra slammed the pilot in her grasp onto the ice beside Naga. The polar bear dog pounced atop him with growls and bared teeth. Pain was absent from the eyes of the others, but fear shone bright as they kept as much distance as possible. All except Asami, who stood beside Naga, glaring down at the groaning captive.

“Nice try, asshole,” Korra taunted. Then the pilot laughed. Not the fearful, false laugh she had expected, but genuine laughter, as if he had won. “What’s so funny?”

“You are truly powerful, Avatar. Volunteers for this mission were hard to come by. Your reputation precedes you and is not exaggerated.” His eyes narrowed. “I doubt your friends can manage quite so well.”

“Which friends?” Korra’s voice was a growl as fierce as her dog’s. 

“All of them. Tenzin and his temples. Zaofu. Your parents in the Northern Water Republic. Your friend Mako in the Fire Nation. We’re coming for them all. Right about now, your friends at the Eastern Air Temple are probably seeing their destroyers in the sky. They are only the first.”

Bolts of lightning crackled around Korra’s hands. Asami shook her head, and the Avatar let it dissipate. “He can tell us more while we hurry to help them,” her girlfriend said. 

“He better.” Korra glared down at the pilot with hatred in her eyes, flickering white as she held back the urge to enter the Avatar State. “Naga will be quite hungry before we reach land.”

The polar bear dog barked her agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hamster Ball of Death! I always loved that. 
> 
> To clear up any confusion about the aircraft technology, I'm working off the assumption Asami has more advanced technology than the White Lotus, who use more antiquated stuff at the moment. Realistic? I don't know, not an expert, but roll with it.


	11. Burden

“Oogi, yip yip.”

The great sky bison groaned and lumbered into the air with a slap of its flat tail. A routine Tenzin had experienced more times than he could count, yet never lost his childish wonder towards. The blue sky grew larger, and the temple faded. Oogi soared above the clouds, slower than he used to but still long years from the day he could no longer bear his companion’s weight. When Tenzin gently tapped him on the head, the sky bison groaned and soared below the clouds, where the two of them found their friends and family enjoying the crisp, cool day together.

Jinora led Pepper up to greet them. The two bison grunted at each other, while Tenzin’s daughter smiled and waved. He smiled back. Time had done little to age Jinora in his eyes. No matter how tall she grew, no matter how her face aged, and no matter she became a woman before his eyes, she was still his little girl without any tattoos. Tenzin frowned. Now Ikki had her tattoos as well. Meelo would have his within three years, at most. Even Rohan displayed the same remarkable affinity for airbending as his siblings. They grew up too soon. 

And yet, he could not help but smile to see the people his children were growing to become. The dream of Avatar Aang had come to life, and the burden he had felt the moment Jinora was born longer pressed down on him quite so heavily. When the day came for Tenzin to step down and hand control of the Air Nomads to his kids, he would do so without fear of his people’s future. He would spend the twilight of his life with his wife and grandchildren and watch Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan lead the Air Nation to greater prosperity.

The great herd of bison in the valley at the foot of the peak atop which the Southern Air Temple was perched was the largest known gathering in the entire world. Sky bison did not travel in groups much larger than six to eight anymore. Poachers searched the world over to steal their fur and meat. These days it was too easy to soar through the sky in manmade machines and slaughter the poor animals. Tenzin had devoted the majority of his years since assuming control of the Air Nomads to the preservation of the majestic sky bison, greatest friends of his people. The Southern Air Temple was his favorite place in the entire world because of the herd before his eyes, and he had outfitted the temple with defenses to ward off those poachers stupid, brave, or desperate enough to come here.

Rohan called out as he approached astride the still growing bison which had chosen him. Button, if Tenzin remembered correctly. “Look, Dad! I can make Button go just like Ikki!”

Tenzin watched proudly as his youngest child maneuvered his bison far beyond what his siblings had been able to at the same age. Rohan was the quietest of them all. He did not have Jinora’s natural adeptness for the spiritual. He did not have Ikki’s charisma or Meelo’s raw power. Yet the airbender patriarch could not help but think Rohan would be the strongest of the four.

“What do you think?” The youngest airbender positioned his bison beside Oogi.

“Very good, Rohan.” Tenzin smiled. “You have already begun to master the most important lesson of having a sky bison companion, that it is not something you control the way you would a vehicle. You treat Button as a friend, the way you should. I’m proud of you, son.”

Rohan smiled meekly and descended out of sight.

Down by a shallow lake on the valley floor, Pema and three other acolytes scrubbed dirty clothes across washboards. Tenzin landed Oogi near them, and jumped down to kiss his wife. “Everything okay down here?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Pema said. “Have you seen anything?”

“No.” Thank the spirits. “Just asking.”

“If you’re really so concerned, you could help us wash your clothes?”

“Oh, um, I actually have some important business to attend to, so…”

Pema pouted, and lifted onto her toes to kiss her husband again. “I’m sure. Get to it, then.”

Tenzin followed the sound of instructions to the patch of grass where Kai led a group of airbenders through form routines. He stopped when he noticed Tenzin, and tasked Tung with taking over for him. “How may I help you, Master Tenzin?”

“I’m looking for Ikki and Rabten. Would you know where they are?”

“Rabten should be at the temple. Ikki, I’m not sure about.”

As if timed perfectly, Dorje’s distinct growl split the air. The bison floated above with Ikki on her back. “Hi, Dad!”

“Good timing,” Tenzin called up. “I wish for you and your sister to come with me to the temple.”

“But Dad-”

“No arguments, Ikki. It is important that we not grow lax in making our rounds of the temple. We will maintain discipline. You are a master, Ikki. You must set the right example for everyone else.”

Jinora smirked, and her sister stuck her tongue out at her. It was all Tenzin could do to scowl rather than smile. His little girls were still in these young women. “I understand, Dad,” Ikki said. 

“Good. Let us hurry so we will still have most of the day to enjoy ourselves.”

Rabten waited for them in a courtyard outside the largest spire. A spry, well-muscled man and the oldest besides Tenzin of the currently existing airbending masters, he had come to the Air Nomads late and with years of individual practice in the art. As such he had his own unique style which years among the Air Nomads and under Tenzin’s instruction had never fully eliminated. And Tenzin had long stopped trying. Perhaps Rabten would develop new techniques to teach the new generations. It was important that they evolve in today’s world.

“Master Tenzin.” He bowed. “Master Ikki, Master Jinora.”

“Good morning, Master Rabten. Let us begin.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lingering guilt still plagued Tenzin over the modifications made to the air temples over the years, no matter how necessary they were. Steel plating and beams replaced stone, bunkers were built into the mountain in case of bombardment, and anti-aircraft built specifically to operate through airbending rose tall above the spires and loomed threateningly in the outer courtyards. Rooms had been converted solely into communication hubs for radios. He remembered stories of the air temples as they had been constructed, and illustrations by the greatest of artists depicting them in their primes. He tried his best to keep them as true to those visualizations as he could, but the times insisted that not only the airbenders evolve, but their homes.

Inspection took up the rest of the morning. Every anti-aircraft weapon fired correctly. The walls were strong. The bunkers were stocked. Everything was as it should be, at least for one more day. Tenzin led the others back outside into the sun with a smile on his face. “Very good. I think we’re ready.”

“Of course we are,” Ikki said. “Those stupid White Lotus couldn’t do anything to us. Besides, Dad, we know Korra will come for us if they attack. Then they’ll really be in trouble.”

Korra. Tenzin reached a hand for the scar along his shaved head. It was hard to believe he had grown so attached to the hotheaded monster who had given it to him. The day the Avatar arrived at Air Temple Island to train in airbending, she had lived up to her reputation and then some. Impatient. Cruel. Violent. Immensely, impossibly powerful. Quick to disobey anyone except her White Lotus masters. Intent on humiliating Tenzin, as if desperate to prove her superiority. The day she’d given him his scar had been the first and only time Tenzin had fought back against her, hoping a victory in combat may humble the young Avatar. How wrong he had been.

Many mornings he had woken up crying, insisting to Pema that that would be the day he told the White Lotus no more. That he would tell them he would no longer train Korra, to find someone else, that he refused even one more lesson no matter what threat they made. To think he was preparing to fight the White Lotus for Korra, with Korra, was something he even now found hard to believe. The day she apologized to him and his family for her behavior had changed nothing between them. Only fear and his own good nature prevented Tenzin from spitting at her and banning her from the island. She had proven worthy of trust and a second chance. Now Tenzin would reward her for her transformation.

“Well then, let’s head back down and enjoy the rest of our day,” he told the others.

A winged shadow descended from the sky. Choden came to a shaky stop and nearly fell over, his glider clattering off the stone beside him. “Master Tenzin,” he wheezed. “They’re coming.”

The day had arrived. Tenzin’s face was a stone mask, like the expressionless statues of the great airbenders he idolized. “How many?”

Panic shone bright in the young woman’s eyes. “A lot.”

###

Behind the fleet of planes propelling forward, the White Lotus airship broke through the clouds like a flying whale. A swarm of silhouettes crowded the deck outside.

“Is everyone who can’t fight in the bunkers?” Tenzin asked.

Jinora nodded. She pulled at the tight wing suit she and the other fighters had donned.

“And the anti-air manned?”

“Yes, Master Tenzin,” Rabten said.

This was it. Time to fight. “Everyone, stay safe and watch each other’s backs. Remember your training and we will come through this safely.”

Rabten sighed anxiously. 

“Don’t worry,” Meelo said. “Korra will come help us.”

Concentrated streams of wind sliced through the air, aimed at the incoming planes. Five of them avoided the blasts. A sixth was sent spiraling out of control into a cliff below. Machinegun fire ripped through stone and sparked off steel, or was deflected away by airbending. Another round of fire from the anti-air took down another plane.

“Should we go after them?” Ikki asked. 

“No,” Tenzin said. “The planes are a distraction. The man assault will come off that airship. We must stay true to the airbender code. We will defend and deflect this assault until they tire. We can do it. I believe in all of you.”

The remaining four planes passed over the temple, spraying it with bullets. A section of wall crumbled away, the stones falling through the clouds, bouncing off the mountain and breaking apart. The airship continued to lumber forward threateningly. 

“Kai, Kona, Mida, fly to the top of the spires and help with those planes. Be careful. You are not to chase them, only to help the anti-aircraft.” The three airbenders nodded and made off.  
When the airship grew close, a handful of gliders separated from it. It had always pained Tenzin to know there were airbenders out there who refused the Air Nomads. He understood that it was not a life for everyone, but it did not make the need to fight those now flying his way any easier to stomach. A third plane bounced off the cliff ahead and exploded in a fiery wreck. The pilot kicked and struggled as his parachuted brought him down in front of Ikki, who quickly knocked him unconscious.

The airbenders set spirals of wind at the Nomads in the courtyard when they landed. They worked well together, pushing Tenzin and the others back with synchronized, inventive offense. The Nomads returned fire as best they could while focusing on avoidance. The White Lotus pushed and pushed, all attack and no defense. Gradually, Tenzin and his Nomads began to anticipate their actions and return fire, until the superior numbers eventually overwhelmed the invaders.

An explosion rocked the temple, and Tenzin just managed to avoid a section of wing that broke the stone where it landed. The wreckage was wrapped around the top of a spire, rocked loose and threatening to fall.

“Kai!” Jinora shouted.

“I’ll get him,” Tenzin said. “Stay here. Remain calm, Jinora. I promise I’ll keep him safe. You must continue to lead our people.”

Jinora nodded, her frown etching harsh lines through her skin.

Tenzin loosed the wings of his suit and glided into the air, hurrying for the quickly crumbling stone atop the spire. The pointed tip broke off and fell to the ground. A fire spread through the remains of the room atop the tower. The empty cockpit hung precariously over the edge. In a narrow space between the plane and the spire, Kai was pulling himself along slowly by his arms. 

“Kai!” Tenzin landed in front of him, one eye warily watching the wreck around him and the fire. “Are you badly hurt?”

“No. I just need a little help getting out of here.”

The master airbender conjured and converged three separate streams of air and blasted the wrecked aircraft into the canyon below. Another circle of wind delayed the spreading fire long enough for Tenzin to take hold of Kai and glide away with him. The flames were quick to move in behind them. 

Tenzin looked back towards the airship, which had fired two ziplines into the courtyard, both swarming with White Lotus benders descending to attack. Those already landed were pushing the airbenders back. Tenzin landed on the balcony of a spire and lowered Kai carefully to the floor. “Will you be okay here?”

“Yes, go!” Kai shouted.

An explosion rocked the air, sucking the wind from the atmosphere as it rippled into a second, then a third, on and on through the airship. The fight seemed to stop as everyone watched. A lone figure latched onto a zipline as the airship descended, explosions ripping through the hull and shattering glass. Tenzin watched this person land among his White Lotus companions. He dove off the balcony when this new arrival began attacking the invaders.

The unexpected solo assault distracted the superior White Lotus numbers, allowing Tenzin and his airbenders to quickly overwhelm them. Some gave up quickly. Some fought until their bodies gave out on them. Others jumped off the cliffs into the canyon below. All the while the mysterious newcomer assisted them, who despite his White Lotus robes was attacking the White Lotus benders. He moved like an airbender, though he bended no elements. His movements were quick and natural. He easily avoided and turned attacks back on the White Lotus. He tore capes from shoulders and bound wrists and ankles. Together they repelled the assault and took those who did not flee captive. 

When the battle was over, only the one spire had taken damage. The planes had fled, and the airship was a wreck on the canyon floor. Frightened bison groaned angrily while they circled the air temple or lay in courtyards. No Air Nomad had lost their life, and few were badly injured. An astounding, unexpected, incredible victory that they owed in large part to the man now walking Tenzin’s way. His face was clean shaven, and only the slightest stubble grew atop his head. 

“Master Tenzin, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Tenzin shook the stranger’s offered hand. “Thank you for your help. May I ask your name and the reason for your assistance?”

“My name is Zaheer. And regarding your second question, we should find somewhere to talk. We have a lot to discuss before the Avatar arrives.”

“The Avatar?” 

“She was attacked as well. Don’t worry, she repelled the attack, as you would expect, and should arrive within hours. Your other air temples were attacked as well, to be sure you were eliminated. My friends will make sure they fail much the same as they did here. Please, let us go somewhere else where we can speak in private.”

Tenzin stared deep into Zaheer’s calm, dark eyes. Nothing about the man suggested hostility, but there was a chaos to the air surrounding him, something that caused Tenzin’s flesh to prickle. “Follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Zaheer? I promise, I'm not going to change him into something he's not and I think I actually have a cool idea of where to go with him and the others. 
> 
> This was actually the hardest chapter to fit characters into the AU. What would the Air Nation be like now? What are Tenzin and his family like when separated by a few generations from Aang? It was kind of hard, so I tried to keep it vague. Any and all comments on any mistakes in grammar or lore or inconsistency with someone I've written before are greatly appreciated.


	12. Forgiveness

The soft, moist hand tracing absent-minded patterns up and down Korra’s back did little to calm her nerves. It was all Korra could do not to jump off the bison and cover the rest of the ground herself. She fixed her blue eyes, darkened by worry, on the collapsed heights of the tallest spire of the Southern Air Temple. The broken remnants of a fighter plane balanced atop the wreckage like a seesaw, swaying dangerously in the wind. It was the only sign of a battle to be seen. Korra still feared the worst.

She had made a beeline for the temple the moment her makeshift ice raft reached land. Asami had overpaid the first ship captain willing to sail his boat, and they had sailed back south immediately. When they reached the island home to the Patola Mountains and the air temple atop one of its peaks, they’d trekked inland until they found three of the great herd of bison that also called the island home.

“What if I’m too late?” Korra whispered.

“You’re not,” Asami said. When Korra didn’t answer, she gripped the Avatar’s hand to get her attention and pointed below the temple, where something shiny was embedded in the mountain. “That’s from a plane. There’s no way it’s from the plane up on the broken spire. And see the fire down there? Look hard.”

Korra squinted to see through the clouds. A vast expanse of twisted, blackened metal lay on the floor of the canyon. An airship?

“Yep, that’s an airship. And we know Air Nomads don’t drive airships. Take a good look around, Korra. Broken planes, broken airship, no blood or dead anywhere. They fought and they won.”

The bison landed in the large courtyard at the center of the spires with a quake and a cloud of dust. Two acolytes rushed forward. Two others ran off, most likely to find Tenzin. An airbending master did come to meet them moments later, but she was much smaller and younger than her father.

“Korra!” Ikki shouted, bending her way atop the bison before Korra could dismount it.

The teenage girl collided into Korra, her thin arms wrapping happily around the Avatar. Memory of the day Korra first arrived at Air Temple Island, and the reaction she had to those same arms hugging her, made the Avatar frown. She shook the thoughts away and hugged Ikki back. 

“You wouldn’t believe what happened! They had this huge airship and a whole lot of benders, even some airbenders! I don’t get why airbenders wouldn’t join the rest of us. Isn’t that kind of dumb? But anyway, a plan crashed into the spire up there and we destroyed a few more. Then the airship shot out cables and a bunch of them assaulted the temple but then a bunch of explosions destroyed it and this guy came down to talk to Dad. He’s in there right now, he said his name is Zaheer and-”

“Ikki, Ikki!” Korra laughed. “Maybe we could talk about this somewhere else?”  
Ikki and two acolytes led the way through courtyards and a sun-lit hallway to a pair of doors decorated by a revived carving of two Masters meditating, one on each side. A fresh layer of paint gave the two figures new life, and the wear and tear of age had been smoothed out. The young airbending master burst through the door without warning, Korra close behind. Tenzin, Jinora, and the man Ikki had described earlier sat around a table.

Tenzin smiled as he stood. “It’s good to see you, Korra.”

“You too,” she said, smiling back. Seeing her old airbending master for herself lifted what remained of her concern off her shoulders. “And you, too, Jinora. So Ikki is right? Everyone is okay?”

“Yes, thanks to Zaheer.” Tenzin gestured towards the stranger.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Korra,” Zaheer said. His face was kind, but his dark eyes did not share its mirth. His muscular frame bulged beneath a borrowed set of airbending robes that fit too tightly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thank you for helping Tenzin and the airbenders.” Korra crossed her arms warily. _Trust your instincts. The Avatar spirit will sense the truth about a person no matter how well they hide it among the lies_. “I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I’m wondering how you knew about the attack and why you wanted to help stop it.”

“I will be happy to answer any of your questions.”

Trays of tea, cakes, cookies, and an early dinner came and went. Zaheer explained how Xai Bau split from the White Lotus during the years of Avatar Kuan’s training, disgusted with their increasing cruelty and obsession with the Avatar at the expense of the rest of the world, to form the Red Lotus. He explained how he found and joined the organization during his lost years as a wandering mercenary. He told them of the shadow war with the White Lotus, the secret battles and assassinations lasting centuries, and Xai Bau’s death at the hands of Avatar Quiao.

“There are few of us left now, and we are scattered to the ends of the world,” Zaheer said. “My friends at the other air temples are the only other members of the Red Lotus I am in consistent contact with. The White Lotus have driven us to the brink of extinction. The stories I’d heard of Avatar Korra, powerful beyond compare and cruel to match, nearly caused me to lose hope. Then we began watching you for ourselves.”

Korra glared at the dark-eyed stranger. “Watching me?”

“Do not be so shocked. Many keep tabs on you, Avatar. The White Lotus, the Red Lotus, spies from governments around the world, obsessed admirers. We watched you to determine a weakness, only to find you were not the person the stories told us. You did not kill as mercilessly. You had friends. You had a father figure in Tenzin. You had a woman you loved. Then you began attacking the White Lotus, and we saw our opportunity.”  
“We have a common enemy and goal, Korra. Alone, our chances against the White Lotus are grim. Even in success a great cost would be paid, and the White Lotus would find a way to hide and survive. But together, we can win this fight, and we can do so in a way that rids the world of the White Lotus forever.”

###

“Breathe deep.” Jinora’s soft intake was the only sound. The wind had gone still. No bison roared. No lemurs screeched. No voices interrupted the silence. “Bask in the sun. Do you feel that energy?”

“Yeah.” Like she was sitting in a river and the water flowed over, under, and around her, yet never did more than sprinkle her skin with refreshing drops. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“I know. I found this spot about a year ago. It is a beacon drawing in spiritual energy. I’ve been waiting for a chance to bring you here.”

Korra opened her eyes and stared at the younger woman sitting nearby. Completely relaxed, entirely at peace, older, wiser, a master of her discipline. “Thank you,” Korra said.

Jinora slowly opened her eyes as well. “For what?”

“For forgiving me. And for teaching me now. I’m sure it’s weird to teach someone older than you, and it doesn’t help when that person is me.”

“That’s…not really necessary.” Jinora’s mouth twisted, her expression awkward. 

“I’ve never said thank you and I’ve never said sorry, so I am now. We can just move if you want.”

Jinora nodded. “We should. You know, we still have some meditating to do.”

The Avatar closed her eyes and tried to focus. A cough scratched at her throat. An insect landed on her arm, and landed on her neck when she shooed it away. A bison roared and a child laughed. Korra sighed angrily and shifted. It felt like a wall had been constructed in her brain, blocking whatever flow in her brain should have allowed her to relax.

Cloth scuffled soft as the wind on the stone, and a small, gentle hand rested on her shoulder. “How long have you been having these problems meditating?” Jinora asked.

“Ever since this all started. You know I’ve never been very spiritual, and I haven’t found any time for it lately. Besides, I’ve never been very good at meditating without you and your dad.”

“But that usually isn’t a problem once we’re back together. We’ve gone months without meditating together and had no problem.”  
“Well, this time is different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know!” Korra shouted. She whipped her eyes towards Jinora, and her anger vanished into the sky when the young woman recoiled. “That was unnecessary. I’m not angry at you.”

“Have you been avoiding the stress when you try to meditate?”

“Of course. That’s what I’m trying to forget. It’s the reason I try to meditate in the first place.”

Jinora resumed her position in front off Korra. Her thin fingers intertwined. “Maybe you should meditate on that stress. Confront it rather than avoid it. Maybe that will unblock whatever is causing you such trouble.”

Korra snorted. “An airbender telling me to take something head on? Now I’ve heard everything.”

The young master giggled. “Hey, who’s the spiritual master here?”

“Okay.” Korra took another deep breath. “Okay.”

Jinora did the same. “Find the blockage in your mind. Search deep for it. Stare it down. Work through the tangled vines, the fallen trees. Do not run, but do not hack away with a machete, hoping to rid yourself of it, either. Learn to live with it, as airbenders learn to live with nature. Bond with it. Find a way to utilize it for a positive result.”

###

_Pema threw one arm protectively in the way of her children, a hard, threatening scowl darkening her normally kind features. When she recognized the woman in the doorway, tears sprang to her eyes._

_“Korra!” Ikki and Meelo ran forward and hugged the Avatar’s legs._

_Jinora offered an arm to her mother, while Rohan clung scared to Pema’s hand._

_“Is Tenzin okay?” his wife asked._

_“He’s fine,” Korra assured her, offering the kindest smile she could manage. “Tired, maybe a little bruised up, but okay. He’s outside with the White Lotus and Chief Beifong right now. The cops are still loading prisoners on the ferry. It’s over.”_

_Only it’s not over. Korra senses the cables spinning towards her, the electricity coiled around them like a snake around a tree branch, but she is a step too slow. They wrap around her, and she is helpless as the Equalists rush into the room where Pema and her children are now screaming. Jinora and Ikki try to fight. Meelo tries to protect his mother and brother. Pema screams and scratches her defiance to the end. This wasn’t how it happened._

_The world went black. When Korra opened her eyes next, the White Lotus stood over Tenzin’s broken body. Lin bled from a dozen wounds, and the fight bled out from her as well. Korra’s body would not move._

_“Why?” she shouted. “Why did you do this?”_

_“We did nothing.” The White Lotus spoke together with one voice. “As always, the blame falls upon you. Friends and family are scabs for your enemies to pick. You made your choice, and you will suffer the consequences.”_

_Tenzin’s eyes opened, and he sat up. Blood ran down the side of his face, dripping steadily off his earlobe, from a nasty gash running from just above his ear to the back of his head. “It’s all your fault” His voice quaked with rage. “Every bruise on our skin. Every fallen stone. Every bleeding bison. Every nightmare. Every death. It all falls back on you.”_

_Jinora screeched and ran. Ikki kneeled in a corner, her small hands clamped over her eyes. Meelo bent air at someone, and was knocked back. Korra struggled forward against illusion, determined to make the person who hurt Meelo pay. She fell to the ground when her own eyes stared back, alight with the white rage of the Avatar State._

_“No!” Korra punched forward, but no fire shot from her fist. Again, and no air rushed towards the Avatar. “You can’t blame me for that! It’s not my fault!”_

_The Avatar trembled and twitched, and split into five different forms. Avatar Siyu. Avatar Kuan. Quiao. Shuang. Their eyes all glowed, their humanity lost to the Avatar’s rage and power. Korra’s doppelganger stood at their front. A bloody grin spread across her face. Five pairs of feet pushed bodies into the air, and five fists aimed their elements at Korra. She closed her eyes and screamed._

###

Jinora still sat beside Korra when the Avatar opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?” the young airbending master asked.

“I still feel so guilty. I’ve dragged everyone I care about into this war. You’re all so willing to help me and it still feels wrong. I appreciate it so much, but do I really deserve it?”

“Yes. Whatever happened before, it was a long time ago and you’re a different person.”

“None of you are angry at me?”

Jinora shook her head. “We love you, Korra. Let the guilt go. Want to try again?”

Korra sighed wearily. “Yeah.” She reached a hand out, and Jinora took it. Together, they closed their eyes.

Asami’s airship arrived when all that remained of the day was a burning orange glow peeking around the mountain peaks like a spying child. She stared up at the vehicle with a reluctant wince. “I hate these things. Too slow and way too big. I don’t know why I still own one.”

“Because along with their size, their sturdy, reliable, and armed to the teeth,” Korra said. A refreshing wind blew through her hair, and a genuine smile decorated her face. “I don’t think the White Lotus will shoot that monster down with a couple fighter planes.”

The boarding ramp jutted out towards the temple. The airship’s captain strutted cockily towards his boss with his hands clenching the open folds at the front of his jacket. “Whenever you are ready, Ms. Sato. Your servants loaded your requested belongings onto the ship, and we made the repairs you suggested, along with a few others to be careful.”

“Thank you.” Asami turned to Korra. “Ready?”

“In a moment.”

“Okay. Thank you again, Tenzin. And good luck.”

The airbending master shook Asami’s hand. “You as well, Ms. Sato.”

Korra blushed when Asami kissed her cheek, and stood entranced while she swayed up the ramp and into the airship. She turned to Zaheer, hoping her eyes had lost their love struck stupor. “Do you think your friend got the message?”

“I have no doubt. She’ll meet you when you land and show you to the location marked on your map. And no worries. P’Li is one of the strongest benders in the world. I daresay she could even trouble you.”

“Good.” Korra reluctantly shook Zaheer’s hand, and waited until he left before directing her attention to Tenzin. “I’m not so sure about him. Be careful.”

“Always.” A moment passed in silence. “You said goodbye to Pema and the children already?”

Korra nodded. “Please stay safe. I swear I’ll drag you back from the afterlife just to beat your ass if you die on me.”

“We’ll be fine, Korra. I promise.”

“It’s going to get harder. The more we hurt the White Lotus, the more they’ll try to hurt you. I want to be sure you understand that and don’t have any second thoughts. Not that it matters now, it’s a little late to back away.”

Tenzin smiled down at her. “I still remember the Equalist attack on Air Temple Island like it was yesterday. It was the scariest moment my family has ever been through, even worse than the battle yesterday. I came so close to losing everything. You are the only reason we survived.”

“A mere five months had passed since you came to apologize, and I still could not bring myself to believe you had changed. When you rushed into the dormitories to help my family, and all I could do was rest against the wall and listen, that was the most helpless I ever felt. I’m sorry to say now that I did not trust you. Not even slightly. I was sure you would come back with news of my family’s passing. When Pema told me of your actions, and how you allowed the Equalists to hurt you to provide her and the children a chance to escape, I felt ashamed. I knew that your regret and apologies had been sincere and you were trying to be a better person, and a better Avatar.”

Korra frowned remorsefully.

“I wish you could see yourself as you are now, rather than the person you used to be. I wish you saw the same remarkable young woman blossoming into the first Avatar worthy of the title since Avatar Aang passed from this world. I will never again have doubts about accompanying you into danger, Korra. You are worth it.”

Korra jumped forward and wrapped her arms around her airbending mentor. She smiled when he hugged her back. “Guess I’ll see you later. When we get Mako, I’ll send a letter. So try to stick around if you can.”

She jogged up the ramp, not wanting to look back and cry. After all, the Avatar cannot cry.


	13. P'Li

When the smoke cleared, Mako was already back on his feet, the tattered, burnt bottoms of his pants legs flapping around his spread legs, his fists raised to his chin. Scorched black earth marked the blast, and three scorched bodies surrounded it. He’d only just managed to jump back in time to avoid the same fate. The person responsible marched through the vanishing smoke like a demon materialized from thin air.

Mako gulped, moving his eyes from legs tall as the pillars of some ancient royal palace to a thin, shapely torso. The woman’s neck was like a zebra giraffe, and her eyes, red as the flames smoldering at her feet, stared contemptuously. Between them, a tattoo of a third eye glowed bright, marking her as a combustion bender. 

The detective had seen the beam shoot from that tattoo, and the damage it caused. He’d also seen her swat aside the flames the White Lotus firebenders attacked with as easily as swatting away a cricket fly. Mako knew his chances of beating this woman were slim to none. He’d just have to give it his best shot.

“Are you Avatar Korra’s friend?” she asked, her voice smoky and sharp. “The detective from Republic City?”

“That’s right,” Mako challenged. “So you better think twice before fighting me. I don’t think you want to piss her off.”

The combustion bender scowled. “She’s hundreds of miles away. If I wanted to hurt you, there’s nothing she could do about it. Lucky for you that’s not why I’m here.”

Mako didn’t relax even slightly. He knew better. “Hell of a trick you have there. Was it really necessary to cook these three like that?”

“They stood between me and you. Since I’m supposed to save your ass, yes, it was necessary.”

“Who sent you to save me? By the way, I don’t need your help. I’ve fought and beaten a lot worse than these three, and I didn’t have to kill them to do it. Just so you know.”

The combustor sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know you were sent here to search for a possible White Lotus headquarters in the area, but things have changed. You need to come with me to Asiai. The Avatar should be arriving there within two days and we’re to meet her there.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I know where the White Lotus are hiding and we’re going to take them down.” The tall woman closed the gap between them, her body relaxed and her eyes no longer staring down scorn. “My name’s P’Li. I can explain while we drive.”

A convertible was parked off the side of the road fifteen minutes away. P’Li explained about the Red Lotus, a man named Zaheer, and their desire to assist in the fight against the White Lotus as they walked. She told Mako about Zaheer’s help at the Southern Air Temple and the army marching towards Zaofu. Mako watched her as she spoke. He was one of Republic City’s best detectives. A man who prided himself on his ability to tell if a person spoke the truth or was blabbering lies. He knew the tells that gave a person away. This towering, powerful woman displayed none of them.

When he took the passenger seat beside her, he figured she was either telling the truth or one of the best liars he’d ever come across.

It was hot as ever, despite the winds blasting across the sleek curves of the convertible and through Mako’s hair as they tried their best to slow the aerodynamic bullet speeding down the road. Every so often he would sneak a look over at the woman driving. She had wrapped a cloth around her head to hide her tattoo, and the material held tight as it rippled in the breeze. Mako had never seen a combustion bender before. The questions piled in his ever curious brain and threatened to topple out of him, but he managed to hold his tongue. He’d always been good at keeping his thoughts to himself. For the better of his career, but the detriment of his personal life.

“What?” P’Li snarled.

“Nothing. Sorry.”

The country highway eventually crossed beneath a raised highway, and P’Li took the onramp. The wind grew worse, tossing Mako’s hair around. He took out his comb and began smoothing it as best he could, knowing he would need to do so again in a few minutes but acting purely out of reflex. He heard the combustor snickering while he put his comb away. “What?”

“I suspected you were a pretty boy,” she said. Mako looked turned to stare at the passing scenery and pout. “Relax. I wasn’t trying to make you cry. So, how long have you known the Avatar?”

“Long enough,” he said curtly. He blew out a breath. “About seven years. Pretty soon after she came to Republic City to train in airbending with Master Tenzin.”

“What kind of person is she?”

“I don’t know…”

“You just said you knew her for seven years.”

“I have. Why do you care so much?”

P’Li shrugged. “Because it’s natural to be curious about the Avatar, for one. Second, it is common sense to want to know about a person who could hold your life in her hands within the next week.”

Mako slicked a hand through his already wild hair and frowned. He had literally just combed it. His hand reached reflexively for his comb, but he stopped it, not wanting to hear anymore snide comments about his grooming. “Korra is…complicated. I can’t think of a better way to describe her.”

###

_Broken glass and a scream fit the greeting Mako had been told to expect from Avatar Korra._

_She jumped out of the window moments later, her landing cushioned by a burst of air. Blood streaked her cheek like war paint. Mako’s knees knocked as rhythmically as a clock when he stepped forward. “Where are the suspects?” he asked._

_“Upstairs. You might even be able to save some if you hurry.”_

_The Avatar brushed past him without a second glance. Mako watched the medics rush past, the urge to confront her like a spirit possessing his body. Eventually, he couldn’t resist it. Hopefully Bolin would find a way to make it once his brother’s broken body was found wherever it landed once the Avatar tossed it._

_“You have no right to do this!” Mako shouted, storming after her._

_Korra turned and glared._

_“We work damn hard not only to keep the streets safe, but to keep them orderly. The world has rules. Going around killing people at your whim is dangerous and wrong. I don’t care that you’re the Avatar. You still have no right to undermine the police force this way.”_

_Mako tensed, ready for the Avatar to punch him in the face or airbend him into a wall or burn him until he was an unrecognizable slab of meat. Instead, she laughed. Not quietly, either, but a hearty howl from the depths of her stomach that made the detective’s face flush red as a tomato and had him considering a punch or some firebending of is own._

_Somehow, he managed to contain himself while the Avatar turned her back and walked away, laughing at him all the time._

_Quiet streets passed by on the way back to headquarters. Quiet was an anomaly in Republic City anymore. Seemed like Mako spent most of his nights responding to emergencies. Gunfire, ambulances, police sirens, Equalist marches, whatever destruction the Avatar was currently causing, all blended together into a never-ending clamor. Maybe it was still there, and the quiet only existed because Mako had long grown used to the noise._

_The clack of an engine in need of a mechanic broke the silence. A rough van spotted with rust was closing on Mako. Tinted windows hid its occupants, but he didn’t need to see them to know the score. There was no mistaking the fish skeleton on the van’s hood.  
Mako took a hard left, his tires screeching like a nail on a chalkboard, and the van followed. It moved too quickly for its bulk, quicker than the patrol cars the RCPD issued. Mako navigated took every turn he could to keep ahead of it. Bullets pinged off the patrol car’s frame. Once he had placed a call for assistance, Mako worked his way back to a main road and sped as quickly as he could towards the harbor._

_The tip of the tower on Air Temple Island peeked above the horizon when the van caught up. Metal screeched against the patrol car’s rear. Rubber bumped rubber. A tire blew out like a popped balloon. Mako twisted the steering wheel back and forth, doing his best to retain control as the vehicle pulled every direction except forward. Another bump sent it spinning until it collided with a power pole._

_A dark sea drowned Mako’s head while two pairs of hands pulled him out of the car. He hit the ground face first and the taste of copper filled his mouth. “Fucking idiot,” someone said._

_“Let’s hurry up,” another voice ordered. “He’ll have backup on the way, and we don’t have the numbers to deal if they send metalbenders.”_

_The city blurred violently as Mako was pulled violently upright. He threw forth a weak blast of fire and received a fist to the cheek that nearly blacked him out. His hips bounced painfully along the ground as he was dragged along the road. The van’s side door opened, and he was lifted to his feet._

_The hands holding him up left his shirt, leaving Mako to fall and smack his back on the bottom lip of the open doorway. Orders were shouted. The comforting wash of warm flames bathed his cheek. He waited for the familiar whip of metal cables that did not come, and wondered why. Walls and bodies both groaned upon impact. Popping bones echoed._

_When Mako’s eyes cleared, they took in the last sight he expected to see._

_“You alright?” Avatar Korra asked. More out of politeness than any actual concern, he noted._

_“I’ll be fine,” the cop grunted._

_He took in the sight around him. The Bonefish had sent five for him, all still shadows in their black bike jackets. The Avatar had saved his life, and Mako still couldn’t help but glower. Dead bodies were a complication and a detriment to his cause. Better that they take him and the metalbenders catch up than kill these bastards before they succeeded._

_“Don’t say a spirits damned word,” Korra spat. “I saved your life, don’t dare criticize how I did it. You can identify them later.”_

_“No need,” Mako grunted. A spotlight swept over the street to the east where an RCPD airship was approaching. “I know who they are. Thanks for the assist.”_

_“Yeah. It’s what I do.”_

_The metalbender airship washed them in its light, and six officers vaulted down to the street. Each of them sneered at the Avatar, but only when they were sure she did not see. Cowards. Mako ignored them and walked over to offer Korra his hand._

_She scoffed at him. “Don’t pretend you like me. You said thanks. Now go away.”_

_“I’m just being polite. What’s your problem?”_

_“If I described every problem I have, we’d be here for days. See you later, officer. Maybe I’ll see you next time someone is trying to kill you.”_

_The Avatar vaulted to the roof of a nearby building and out of sight._

###

“She sounds like a blast,” P’Li said. Her grin was more sadistic glee than happiness.

“She’s not quite so bad anymore,” Mako said. “She tries hard not to be. It’s been hard, but she manages well. And Asami is a big part of that.”

“Her lover?”

“Yeah. Great woman.”

“You sound jealous.”

“What? No, I don’t. What are you talking about?”

P’Li smirked, and Mako scowled. 

Asiai was a surprisingly calm city considering the commerce which ran through its port. Orderly citizens walked orderly, clean streets. Police greeted them with smiles and sometimes stopped to engage in conversations. None of the cars sped or honked or tailgated too closely. 

Mako had visited the Fire Nation his share of times in his life. His mother was born in the Fire Nation, so he and Bolin had visited on occasion during their childhood, and a couple joint efforts between the Fire Lord and Republic City had brought him back. He had always admired the order present throughout the country. As someone who had chosen a career in law enforcement, it was the kind of order his profession dreamed about.

Rows of copycat hotels occupied the streets nearest to the port. P’Li chose one named The Seaside Flame, checked in with reception, received the key to a room she had apparently reserved already, and along with Mako rode the elevator to the second floor. Their room was the closest to the elevator. Smart choice. 

Mako threw his luggage in a corner near the bed P’Li pointed to. “That’s yours. Go to sleep, watch television, read a book, or stare the ceiling for all I care. Just don’t leave the room.”

“So we just wait around until Korra shows up? Shouldn’t we scope out this White Lotus hideout, get an idea of what we’re dealing with?”

“I already know everything we need to know.”

“Well, I don’t.”

The combustor scowled at Mako, crossed over to a small desk, grabbed a manila folder off the chipped surface, and tossed it his way. Inside were photos, lists of names and their shifts, and blueprints. The detective began rifling through it.

“Happy?” P’Li hissed.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Mako said.

Neither firebender moved over the next few hours. Mako looked over and looked over and looked over again the contents of the folder, doing his best to memorize the information. P’Li stared out the windows at the street below like a statue. She hardly twitched. Eventually she pulled the chair from the desk and sat while she watched the outside world. She stayed that way as Mako looked over her information one more time and closed the folder.

“When did you get this?” he asked.

“I’ve been busy while you wandered the Fire Nation like an idiot. It’s harder to find someone you aren’t sure even exists, and I know many ways to keep my presence a mystery.”

Mako found it hard to believe a woman her size somehow went unnoticed. “So you’ve done this before?”

“More than I could even tell you. The White Lotus have hunted me and my friends for a long time.” P’Li bowed her head. “We had nearly lost hope. Then the Avatar declared war on the White Lotus, and like the summer after a long, cold winter, I felt the fires reignite within me. My faith in Zaheer was rewarded.”

Mako recognized the admiration in her tone when she spoke Zaheer’s name, the awe and inspiration in each syllable. “He sounds like a good leader.”

“He is the greatest man I’ve ever known.” Hesitation crept into her voice like a moth spider sneaking beneath a door. “I’m sure you’ve held back a thousand questions today about my abilities. They manifested when I was a child, and I was kidnapped from my home by a terrorist organization when word reached them. For ten years they tortured and trained me until I was nothing more than a mindless weapon, no different than a gun. I spent another decade causing death and destruction at their whim. Zaheer saved me from that life. He showed me so much more. I can never repay him, and I will never stop trying.”

She loves him. “You sound like Korra.”

P’Li turned around. “I’ve always admired the Avatar for facing the same struggle I did and coming out the other end. I’d like to think we share much in common. I can’t wait to meet her, and I can’t wait to help her take revenge on those who tried to rob her of her humanity.” An evil grin, more anger than amusement, darkened her expression. “Just like I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Imagining the sullen interaction between these two was cool. And it was good preparation if I ever publish the chapter of that Mako story I wrote and continue with it. Seriously, the Red Lotus are great material for fanfiction. Also realized as I wrote this that P'Li's backstory in the show works great as a parallel to what Korra went through in this AU.
> 
> Comments are always greatly appreciated and very welcome. After all, I like to know what I'm doing right and what you all think I might be doing wrong.


	14. Realistic

Identifying P’Li among the crowd would have been easy even without Mako standing beside her. After all, Korra couldn’t imagine there were too many scary, skyscraper-sized women with eyes red as rubies blazing in a fire. She heard Asami gasp behind her.

“Yeah,” Korra agreed.

Mako greeted them with hugs and made the introductions. P’Li’s grip was misleadingly delicate and she spoke in a voice like a fledgling fire, bright and eager and tinged with smoke. The wind tugged at a cloth wrapped around her head.

“So what do we know?” Asami asked as they walked to the parking lot.

Mako pulled a manila folder from under his jacket and handed it to her. Predictably, he began explaining before she could open it. “Everything we need to know is in there. The layout, shift changes, numbers, weak spots. More than enough to bring the place down for good.”

Asami’s eyes wandered over the contents. “Very good, Mako. I’m impressed.”

The detective rubbed his neck. “Well, um, actually you should think P’Li.”

“I knew it,” Korra said.

“Hey!”

Korra laughed, and Asami giggled beside her. Even P’Li grinned, a reluctant peek of white in the rearview mirror. 

They drove through lunch, stopping only for gas and bags of fire flakes to quiet the grumblings in their stomachs. P’Li detailed some of her efforts to scout the White Lotus. Asami’s eyes rarely left the contents of the folder Mako had given her. The cap of a pen poked out of her lips, and her hand scratched beside names on lists, drew over blueprints, scrawled prettily across photographs. Her eyebrows raised, lowered, and furrowed, but never stayed still.

She was still working away when P’Li turned onto a path off-road and told them the White Lotus hideout was an hour away. “Figure out something good, Sami?” Korra asked.

Asami turned towards her lover, pen cap still clenched between her teeth. Korra leaned forward pressed their lips together, and took the cap between her own teeth while Asami pulled away. Once she’d slipped the tip of the pen back into its cover, Asami took it from Korra’s mouth and placed it back in her purse. Mako groaned at the habit, as he always did. Korra couldn’t even remember when it started. Some late night in some office, the kind that blended together so that no single night could be discerned from the rest.

“Don’t ever let me borrow a pen from either of them,” P’Li grumbled.

She pulled the car onto a flattened patch of dead grass where a notched cliff blanketed the ground in shadow. “We’ll approach on foot from here. I have my own plan, but I saw you drawing up your own. So let’s hear it.”

Asami opened the folder and spread the contents over the hood of the convertible. “I have two, actually. I’d have a third if my airship was here.”

P’Li scowled.

“Getting past the gates is no problem. Korra could earthbend us all beneath it easily. The question is where. Based on all this, the best options to emerge are to the east, where the main building is closest to the gates, or near this tinier square building near the stairs. Either approach gives us adequate cover from patrols and the machinegun nest. The route we choose depends on whether you want to search this tinier building or go straight for the objective. That’s the choice for Korra. I’m more engineer than war strategist.”

“What do you think it is?” Mako asked.

“Armory,” P’Li said without hesitation.

“I think so, too,” Korra said. “On a corner away from the front gate, near what looks like a target range and a barracks. Has to be weapons or supplies.”

“We have to break in,” P’Li fixed everyone with her blazing stare. “We need to know how they are armed.”

“That’s too risky.” Mako crossed his arms petulantly, believing he genuinely had a say. 

“You don’t put your best equipment on the front lines,” Asami said. “You put the expendables on the front line and keep your strength in reserve around who or what you most need to keep intact. The armory would give us a hint as to how the guards inside are armed.”

Korra smirked. No war strategist? Yeah right. Asami had exposed her to a world of corporate conflict the Avatar had been blind to, and that conflict often involved armed guards and battlefields. “Okay. We wait until nighttime, tunnel under the fence, and come up here. Then what?”

Asami pointed at the blueprint. “Then comes the simple part. Find the structural weaknesses,” Asami had marked them with her pen, “and take them apart. I suppose you could do this with your bending, which would be loud, but maybe we could find charges in this supposed armory.” She turned to P’Li. “Unless you have some?”

The combustor shook her head.

“Then we either scavenge some from the armory and try to be quiet, or we blast it apart piece by piece. I know Korra can do that pretty effectively. Not so sure about the rest of us.”  
P’Li removed the cloth wound around her head, exposing the eye tattoo marking her as a combustion bender. Korra watched as she breathed deep, closed her eyes, twisted her head as if she had been punched, and opened them again. A beam of explosive energy sliced through the air, shimmering like asphalt on a hot day. When it reached a section of the cliff above the combustor, it detonated like a cluster of hand grenades. Fractured rock spun wildly down to the ground. A large piece of debris spun wildly towards the convertible, and Korra hurried to stop it.

“You need something destroyed efficiently?” P’Li bragged. “You won’t find much better help than me.”

The remainder of the afternoon was spent assigning roles and responsibilities. A cool night had begun to spread along the deepening dark when Korra climbed the nearby cliff to meditate. Asami was predictably soon to follow. The crunch of rock and grass beneath light steps brought a flushed smile to the Avatar’s face.

“Do you mind some company?” her lover asked.

“Not when it’s you.” Korra patted the ground beside her and watched Asami kneel gracefully. She did everything gracefully, with a breeding and class disguising the hard woman beneath. Asami Sato was a mystery in that way. Painted, manicured nails hid the dirt beneath. Mascara and eye shadow hid the brilliance that never stopped turning in her brain. Her lithe frame and soft skin hid her strength. Even as well as Korra knew her, it was hard not to look at Asami Sato and assume her as yet another pretty, entitled rich girl, but the Avatar most certainly knew better than that. “I don’t suppose you want to meditate with me?”

“No thanks. You know me, I’d rather drive myself crazy going over the details a thousand times and picking apart every aspect of our plan.” 

“To each their own.” Korra closed her eyes and focused on the world around her. Crickets chirped in the distance. The cool of night spread down her forehead, nearly at her nose. The heat of the day still cooked her clothes beneath her. Asami’s wrist bounced nervously atop her knee, and she stared nervously at the ground. “You don’t trust P’Li or Zaheer?”

Asami didn’t deny it. They knew each other too well, could read each other’s emotions too easily, like a familiar book each of them knew every sentence of. “I wouldn’t say I don’t trust them, more that I’m wary of putting so much trust in them.”

“I understand, but their goal is ours. Does it really matter why they want to help?”

“Of course it does! What if the Red Lotus are an even worse enemy than the White Lotus?”

Korra opened her eyes and glared at the ground. “There is no such thing.”

“You don’t know that.”  
“I know that the Red Lotus didn’t imprison me for my entire childhood. I know the Red Lotus didn’t take everyone I love from me. I know they are not the ones who beat me, who tortured me, who broke me. I know who did that.”

Asami rubbed her hand soothingly up Korra’s arm. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t accept their help. I’m just asking you to be careful with them. You don’t know what they are.”

Neither woman spoke. Asami stood to leave, but Korra gently grabbed her wrist. “Do you mind staying? It helps when you’re here. I can relax a little better.”

Asami sat back down, smiling. “I don’t mind.”

###

Alarms blared throughout the compound, enough to be sure every pair of ears within the White Lotus hideout heard them. It seemed to Korra like every mouth in the hideout was shouting; some gave orders, some tried to wake up their friends, some just to shout, not knowing what else to do. Korra avoided a blast of fire from a tall man with a mustache and airbended him hard into a wall. She was trying her best not to shout as well.

The ground rumbled ahead of an explosion that shook the ground and sent a dust storm down the corridor. Stubborn specks invaded Korra’s throat before she could turn her back, choking her and making her cough. P’Li emerged from the dust. The air around her head still shimmered from a recent blast. Loud groans moaned throughout the building as it struggled atop what remained of its supports.

“Go!” Korra shouted. “Make sure Mako and Asami are safe! I’ll bring this fucking thing down!”

P’Li didn’t object to the order. She nodded, turned, and ran off, leaving Korra alone to collapse the White Lotus hideout on her own. Easy. No matter how she separated herself from the White Lotus’s teachings, the many ways they had taught her to destroy were an instruction manual tattooed onto her brain.

The hideout was emptied, a serene calmness at the center of a battlefield. It reminded Korra of the medical tents outside Zaofu when Jianjun attacked. She had never seen large scale war before, and had been entirely confused by the sacredness of that sprawl of tents. Jianjun was a brutal, merciless dictator, a man who showed no hesitance to kill the dying on the battlefield, but had never unleashed his weaponry or benders on the wounded back at the medical tents. Within those tiny squares, stinking of death and fear, the only clue of the war outside was the dying.

Korra thought as she destroyed, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. They had snuck past the gates easily, and broken into the armory, which was an armory. They had found explosive charges. Asami had led them into the main building without a sound. They had split up to plant them, and it all went to shit. An alarm blared, a scream echoed through the corridors, an explosion shook the building, and the fight became unavoidable.  
One last stubborn fighter attempted to stop Korra, and she easily dispatched him. Asami’s blueprint in mind, she navigated to an intersection where four hallways merged into a circular chamber. Two pillars intricately carved to show vines wrapped around them, lotus petals flowering off of the buds, rose from floor to ceiling, and Korra remembered from the blueprint that they continued all the way up to the roof. Within the decorated stone were steel beams.

Korra reached out, feeling for the metal. She grinned. Easy. Her muscled arms yanked, and the steel bent, collapsing the stone. She stomped the ground, shaking the walls around her, and heaved a spike-tipped pillar through the roof above. Falling debris just missed her head. The building sounded its death and began to collapse. Korra ripped a section of steel from a pillar and crushed holes through the walls to her right, opening a path outside.

She emerged outside in a cloud of dust and nearly ran into Mako. “Get away!” she shouted. Fire roared from the soles of their shoes as they rocketed away. A shockwave of wind and dust spread outwards when the building fell.

Mako grumbled while he brushed the dust off his clothes. “Well that went well.”

“I’m sorry, but the quiet approach left the building the second those alarms blared.”

“Are you blaming me?”

“I’m not blaming anyone! I’m just telling the truth!” Another explosion shook the earth. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s hurry and find Asami and P’Li before they get captured.”

Korra turned and ran before Mako could respond.

P’Li hid behind the wall of the armory, using her combustion blasts to keep three of the White Lotus at bay while they tried to get shots on her with their pistols. Another two crept over the roof of the armory, fist-sized rocks orbiting their hands. One of them readied to toss their ammunition at P’Li, but a long, lithe leg swept him off his feet. His partner managed to toss three stones before an electric glove shocked him, his body twitching as it fell off the roof. 

Korra grinned, and then turned pale as snow. She screamed Asami’s name, but too late. The bullet missed, but it sent Asami tumbling, her back cracking against the edge of the armory roof. She tumbled head over heels to the ground behind P’Li and lay motionless. Korra began to run. A group of gunshots sent her back into cover. Asami did not move. The last thing Korra remembered was Mako calling her name, the sound drowned as if she was underwater.

When the Avatar faded away and Korra returned, only wreckage surrounded her. To her right, Mako’s eyes were turned away. P’Li panted excitedly, eyes alive with awe. Asami stood, a hand pressed to side and tears in her eyes. Korra wiped at a lock of sweaty-plastered hair stuck to her forehead, and her hand came back crimson. A dying gurgle tickled at her ears.

Blood still bubbled weakly from the throat of the man she had impaled with rock. Cooked flesh crackled and spit. Necks were twisted around. Eyes bulged from gaping faces. 

“I think we won,” P’Li said gleefully. 

Mako and Asami would not meet Korra’s eyes.

Come dawn, she meditated alone. She had apologized to Asami for losing control, and they would move on together as always, but it would be days before they were close again. Asami was too good a person to simply forget, but also too good a person not to forgive. Korra understood. This was their way. It had been their way since the first time Asami had seen the Avatar unleashed. She would be there for Korra, but only time could make her comfortable again.

Long, unfamiliar strides crunched heavily towards her. P’Li seemed tall as a mountain, her bloody eyes looking down from the peak. “That was impressive, Avatar Korra. You are truly powerful.”

Korra frowned. “I feel sick.”

“I noticed, and that’s why I’ve come to talk to you, since those other two don’t seem willing to say what should be said. You were not wrong to kill those bastards. Not after what they did to you, and not after they hurt the woman you love. You were protecting her. You protected all of us. There is no shame in protecting those you care about by whatever means necessary.”

“Killing them isn’t the problem, it’s how I did it. I didn’t have to slaughter them like that. For spirit’s sake, did you see what I did to those people?”

“Yes.” P’Li grinned. “Like I said, it was impressive.”

“Please, leave me alone. I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I don’t want to feel better. I must reflect on my actions and accept them.”

The towering combustion bender shrugged. “I know you are trying to be a better person, but you must also be realistic. You know this enemy you fight. You, more than anyone, understand their ruthlessness and mercilessness. Maybe you cling to some romantic dream of arresting the leaders of the White Lotus, watching them stand trial for their crimes, and living the rest of your days with them in prison, but I know you’re not so naïve. The White Lotus are the rich and powerful. They are generals and presidents. They run the largest businesses in the world. They run the world. You will have to kill them. That is the task you assigned to yourself when you began this war. If you want to win, peace and mercy must wait.”

Korra closed her eyes as P’Li walked away, trying to think of some way to prove her wrong and knowing she was right.


	15. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the hell am I doing writing another chapter this quick? Jeez, slow down. 
> 
> It's a short one, but I wanted a little transition chapter and figured it would be a good excuse to give a little Korrasami as well.

Korra found her girlfriend where she didn’t expect, and yet expected every moment she searched; Asami sat beside Mako, smiling warmly while they spoke. Only someone who knew the brilliant young woman like Korra did would notice anything askew. The uneven application of her lipstick. The slight smudge of her eye shadow. The loose thread on her sleeve.

The Avatar approached with a smile she knew looked as fake as it felt. Asami didn’t mention it. She only smiled and slid over to make room on the bench. 

“What’s up with you?” Mako asked, oblivious as ever. It never ceased to amaze Korra how he could have such skill with a suspect in interrogation yet consistently prove as inept as a fourteen-year-old staring at cleavage when it came to reading his friends.

“Nothing,” Korra lied. “How are you, Asami?” _Are you okay?_

“Relaxing.” _Ignoring._

“You think we should move on soon?” _Shouldn’t you be packing?_

“Not right now.” _Let’s talk about this when we're alone._

Korra bit her lip to still her tongue. She had found the letter in their hotel room, envelope sliced open, so she knew Asami had read it. 

Mako finally seemed to get the hint, and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Guess I should go check if there's a letter from Bolin. Hopefully it will show up today.” He hurried from the park.

Korra turned a frustrated gaze towards her girlfriend. “Sami, you need to go.”

“I will.” Asami met Korra’s fire with hard steel. “We’ll make our arrangements and head off together.”

“No, we won’t, because we’re not going to the same place. I’m heading to Zaofu with Mako and P’Li to defend the city. You need to go home and save your company.”

“Things are not that desperate,” Asami said. “Future Industries can survive minus a handful of factories and production lines. A day or two won’t make a difference. Once we’re all ready to leave the Fire Nation, I’ll catch a plane back to Republic City.”

Korra sighed. “How do you do this? I’m more worried about your company than you are.”

Asami laughed. “No, I promise you’re not. I’m just not as reactionary as you are. Sorry, hon, but you let the small picture consume your every thought, no matter how minor the insult. You’ve always been that way. I love you for it, but you know that’s not me.”

No, it wasn’t. And it never had been.

###

_A pair of maids shouted after Korra as she ran past, but she no more heard them than she did the heavy thud of her boots against the stairs. She almost turned right at the landing, but Asami would not have gone to the office. Not that office._

_Back down the stairs she went, again ignoring the maids still calling her name. A selfish flicker of amusement and strange pride nearly derailed her one track thoughts that they knew her name. She was probably getting too close to Asami Sato. No, she was definitely becoming too close. Korra couldn’t think of another person she had ever become such friends with. Her and Detective Mako had developed something of a respect. His brother Bolin was walking amusement, and she enjoyed spending time with him. Korra considered them friends, or as close as she had ever allowed herself._

_Asami was different. She was a true friend, the kind the White Lotus had warned her against. The kind they might take action against if they felt she was leeching the training from Korra’s mind._

_She burst out through a sprawling kitchen and out into the back of the estate. There was no doubt Asami was everything the White Lotus feared, Korra thought as she ran towards the light spilling through the window of the workshop. Too many of her thoughts turned to the brilliant young Sato heiress. Too often Korra found herself wanting to talk to Asami about something that had happened, or wanting to buy something because it reminded her of the woman, or asking herself if Asami would approve of her actions._

_Korra skidded to a stop outside the workshop. There was the problem. For the first time, there was someone in her life who made her question herself. That’s what the White Lotus feared, and that’s why she should turn around, run away from the Sato estate, and let those maids forget her name. Instead she knocked on the workshop door._

_Asami answered with hardly a hair out of place. As if today was just another day. “Hey, Korra.”_

_“Are you okay? I heard what happened. What’s your plan?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“You have to respond in some way when thieves hit your offices.”_

_Asami waved Korra into the workshop, closed the door, and crossed over to grab a bottle of water beside her tools. The shack smelled like metal and wood and grease and that little bit of Asami that somehow fit perfectly in among the rest. Maybe because all those other smells were as much Asami as her perfume or makeup. Korra had quickly learned that her friend was just as comfortable among cursing workers on production lines and garages as she was at political functions like the one where they met.  
“The matter is being looked into,” Asami said. “No one was hurt. Nothing too important was stolen. These things happen, especially with all the present turmoil in Future Industries. That turmoil requires my attention much more than a break-in at an office in the Southern Water Republic.”_

_Korra’s mouth gaped open, unbelieving. Infuriated. How was she so calm? “What about next time? If you don’t take action now, immediately, maybe next time it won’t be some unimportant office in a different nation. It could be your factories here in Republic City, or your office, or even your house. Letting them get away with this only emboldens them. You can never show weakness.”_

_**Those who challenge you must always learn, no matter how minor the challenge.** _

_“We’ve been over this, Korra,” Asami said calmly. Not judging, but explaining. Wanting to make her understand. An alien tone no one had ever used with the Avatar. The White Lotus commanded impatiently. Mako judged. Politicians degraded. Asami was the only one who treated Korra as an equal. “Remember the night we met? Stuff like this happens often. I have measures in place and relationships I’ve developed to get the answers I need and protect my most valued offices, warehouses, and factories. Relax, Korra. I’m very glad to have the Avatar’s help, but you know I’m more careful than that.”_

_“Yeah, I guess so.” Korra knew she should shut up. Impulse control was something she had not mastered. “You don’t worry that things might be worse because of…you know…what happened with your father and, um, all that?”_

_A fleeting, inappropriate shadow darkened Asami’s vibrant green eyes, like a vandal had spilled paint across the statue on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Korra shrunk as if she’d been busted with the empty paint cans._

_“Not anymore. It’s been almost a year. Things were rough, but I’ve settled the company. Our stocks are back up, buyers are flocking back to Satomobiles, and the board finally trusts me. I feel good about Dad’s…my company for the first time since I took control.”_

_“I still think you should do something.”_

_“I know.” Asami smiled. “And like I said, I appreciate that you care.”_

_Korra was fairly sure she was staring, and looking stupid in the process. Talks with Asami always seemed to leave her awed and staring. Everything about the woman seemed contrary to everything Korra had ever been taught. Her decisions always seemed opposed to the very core beliefs drilled into the Avatar’s head since she was a little girl. And yet not only did it work for Asami, but she seemed to thrive. In a world of monsters, Asami Sato was a knight slaying the evils Korra had only ever known._

_“So, do you want to grab something to eat?” Asami asked. “I’m kind of hungry, and I know you can always fit food in your stomach.”_

_And as always, despite everything gone wrong in her life, Asami would make time to hear Korra’s problems. She was impossible. She was everything Korra thought didn’t exist. “I’m lucky to have a friend like you,” the Avatar said._

_Asami smiled. “Likewise.”_

###

“Can you promise me something?” Asami asked, mindlessly swirling her straw around in her cup.

Korra swallowed a mouthful of burger. “Of course.”

“Don’t lose yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you the way you were yesterday. I’m worried that the longer this war continues, the more it will waken the worse in you. You’ve changed so much, but battling the White Lotus is going to force you back into some dark places. I know it’s unavoidable and I’m not going to stop you. All I ask is that you don’t lose yourself in the process. Please come out the other end of this the same woman I fell in love with.”

How did she always know? How did Asami always know what was bothering Korra, even before Korra knew? “It’s going to be tough. I’m going into a battlefield at Zaofu. You know how Jianjun’s invasion still haunts me. I wish you could be there with me. I’d feel more confident if you were.”

Asami rolled her eyes, shining like emeralds in the sun. “Then why are you trying to get rid of me so quickly?”

“Because I’m the kind of person who freaks out, of course. But I also think I need to do this alone. I need to go back to that city and fight this fight, and see what I am in the aftermath. So much of my bad reputation was made back then. Maybe I create a new, better reputation this time around. Or maybe I’ll slip. Either way, it’s best I find out.”

“You’ll make it. You’ll still be my Korra.”

Korra pouted. “Why are you so sure?”

Asami reached across the table and grasped her hand, a lifeline the Avatar would treasure for these next few days, hoping the memory would keep her tethered moving forward. “I know you. And I trust you.”  
They were ready to leave the next day. Bolin’s letter arrived, telling them a rival province’s army was marching on Zaofu and would arrive within the week. P’Li’s Red Lotus friend sent her a letter telling her much the same. Flights were booked, responses were written and sent, bags were packed. Korra hugged Asami, kissed her goodbye, and watched her board her flight.

“Remember her,” P’Li said. “Remember everything you love about her, because that’s why you’re fighting.”

Korra looked up at the towering combustor. “I wish I was going with her. You look like you know the feeling.”

P’Li nodded. “Very well. Zaheer and I have spent too many lonely weeks apart. We’ve experienced too many farewells as we ran from the White Lotus. Saying goodbye never gets easier.”

“But you never stop loving each other?”

“Never.” P’Li smiled down at her. “We love each other more. Every fight reminds us why our love is worth the effort.”

Mako sprinted towards them, wrinkled clothes hastily tossed on and typically styled hair a bedridden mess that looked like an elephant rat had gotten tangled in it. “Why didn’t anyone wake me up? The plane didn’t leave yet, did it?”

“No, you goof.” Korra tried not to laugh and failed miserably. “Better hurry. And keep Sami safe or I’ll destroy you.”

Mako stiffened upright into a salute. “You got it.” The two fell into a hug. “You stay safe. And try your best, alright?”

“You got it.”


	16. Heart

Too long had passed since Bolin was awake in time to see a sunrise.

Such was the benefit of being a movie star, even if your movies only made you a star because of how notoriously cheesy they were. It didn’t bother Bolin too much. Yeah, he starred in some terrible films, but he also starred in some good ones, had a lot of fun in the process, a lot of money, and had a great life a far cry from scamming on street corners while his brother was out trying to land whatever job he could find, legal or otherwise. And if not for Varrick’s movies, he might not have met his wife.

Opal groaned as she shuffled barefoot out onto the balcony beside her husband. “Why are you already up?” she murmured tiredly. 

“Oh, heh, you know, just, up and ready to face the day. Looking forward to the fight and all that. Nothing Bolin likes more than a good rumble.” Bolin almost fell into a flexing pose. “Sorry.”

Opal smiled. “At least you realize now when you’re doing that and can stop. That’s progress.”

“I’m nervous. Obviously. And worried about my brother and my friends.”

“No one can hurt Korra, and she would never let anyone hurt your brother or anyone else she cares about.”

That was true, but just because you know something is true doesn’t mean you don’t worry about it. Bolin knew mosquito wasp stings didn’t do much besides irritate his skin where they stung, but it didn’t stop him from sweating when he heard them buzz.

“And Zaofu is the safest city in the entire world. We have the domes. Kuvira has the military mobilized and ready to defend the city. Mom hired one of the best mercenary groups in the Earth Empire. All they have to do is hold out long enough for Korra to get here.”

“It doesn’t bother you to rely so much on her? You know, knowing how much she’s trying to change? You don’t worry that this will make her backslide a little?”

Opal shrugged. “She’s the Avatar. She kind of has to fight.”

Bolin knew that his wife hadn’t known Korra that long, and didn’t know what she used to be, but he was still disappointed that she didn’t worry more. Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen Korra at her worst. Bolin had, and he knew it was hard to explain, and even harder to believe. No matter how many stories there were about the Avatar’s power, it’s impossible to comprehend how apocalyptically powerful Korra was unless seen for yourself.

Then again, Bolin was happy that Suyin had managed to hide what Korra had done to Jianjun’s army from her daughter. When Baatar Jr. had been told about Korra’s impending arrival, Bolin recognized the wide, fearful eyes as if they were his own.

“Is it really that bad?” Opal asked.

Bolin remembered his brother in a hospital, eyes glazed over and unseeing. He remembered seeing Dragon Flats Borough on fire. He remembered Varrick pushing him to help Avatar Korra as a publicity stunt, and the fight against the pirates in the Fire Nation. 

“Nothing Nuktuk can’t handle!” he said.

Opal giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

The rest of the Beifong clan was already gathered around the three tables in the dining room when the married couple arrived for breakfast. As always, Suyin sat in her place at the center of the head table, and greeted them with a smile. Bolin watched her for any sign of stress, any crack in her typically warm, loving demeanor. He wasn’t the best at reading people, but to his eyes she didn’t appear any more worried than she would be if there was a spider fly buzzing around the room.

Kuvira had joined them that day, as had one of the mercenaries, a long-haired, long-mustached man with an easy demeanor that conflicted with Kuvira’s stern, stony countenance. They must have paused an ongoing conversation when Bolin and Opal entered the room, as Kuvira turned her attention back to Suyin the moment they sat. “We should be able to hold the agricultural sectors for at least three days, and as much as two weeks. We’ve dug the trenches and placed artillery on the cliffs. I still think we should request reinforcements from the United Republic.”

“No,” Suyin said curtly. “That won’t be necessary and I have no wish to owe their President anything.”

“You’re placing a lot of trust in the Avatar.” Kuvira frowned. “Are you sure she is enough to give us the edge?”

“Without question. I’ve seen her face down worst.”

“At great cost to your lands, your city, and your army. She’s reckless and dangerous.”

“Exactly,” the mercenary said, grinning. “No better equalizer against a superior army than a reckless god, right?”

“Not if that god destroys us in the process, Ghazan,” Kuvira grumbled.

“I know you have bad memories of the last time Avatar Korra fought for my province,” Suyin said, “but she is a good person and I trust her. I promise I will speak with her when she arrives and make sure she understands your concerns.”

The clatter of silverware and plates soon filled the room alongside the many intimate conversations taking place around the tables. Bolin felt a pair of eyes staring, and looked up with a mouthful of pancakes to see the mercenary, Ghazan, smirking at him. 

“You’re Nuktuk,” he said. 

Bolin nodded uneasily. 

“I love your movies. I’m sure you get that a lot.”

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks.” The man’s eyes made Bolin uneasy. Like they were laughing, but at something really cruel that no one should find funny. “It’s always good to meet a fan.”

“Maybe after breakfast you could come to my room and sign an autograph for me.”

“Sure. Yeah, sounds great! Anything for a fan. Hey, you guys are the reason I make money doing those films, right?”

###

“So you’re an earthbender, huh?” Ghazan asked.

“Yeah,” Bolin said. “Used to be a pro-bender. Stopped that when I got into movies. I would do both, but Varrick had me sign something promising I wouldn’t, and I didn’t understand a lot of it but I understood enough to know breaking my contract is a bad idea.”

Ghazan pulled a framed photo from his luggage and pulled it from the frame. Bolin took the offered pen and signed it, his grin matching the grin on the mercenary’s face. Interacting with his fans was one part of being a movie star he had always liked, and never understood those who didn’t. 

“So, how long have you been a mercenary?” he asked.

Ghazan scoffed. “Too long. It’s not very fun. Thankfully I won’t be one much longer?”

“Hey, don’t be so down. Like Suyin said during breakfast, Korra is definitely enough to win this fight. More than enough, believe me.”

“You’ve known her a long time, huh?”

“Oh yeah, years now. She’s…” Bolin frowned, carefully picking out his next words rather than let them squish awkwardly from his mouth like usual. “She’s incredibly strong. Stronger than anything you’ve ever seen, I promise. It used to be really scary. I’ve seen her lose control before and she can do crazy amounts of damage.”

Ghazan sat on his bed, watching Bolin studiously. “You still consider her a friend despite that fear?”  
“Definitely. I mean, she used to be really bad but she’s not anymore and she’s tried really hard to be a better person. She’s known my brother even longer than she’s known me and Mako has nothing but respect and loyalty towards her. And she’s a really fun person. We’re a lot alike actually.”

The mercenary’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, I can’t wait to meet her. Do you think she’d talk to me if you asked?”

“Of course! Just don’t go running off before we win!”

“Don’t worry about that.” Ghazan grinned. “You know, I’m an earthbender, too, and I’d have to be crazy not to ask for a chance to spar Nuktuk. What do you say, you up for it?”

Bolin smiled his acceptance, bashing his fists together like two boulders.

###

Where the ground had been solid as steel moments earlier, lava now shimmered dangerously, calling out to the loose threads on Bolin’s pants and the fine hairs beneath. He stared gape-mouthed at the molten pool. “You’re a lavabender?!”

Ghazan smirked. He did that a lot. “It’s not as useful as you think. Not anymore.”

The lava cooled and hardened, the sudden loss of heat almost making Bolin shiver. “I wish I could do something like that.”

“You’re a talented earthbender. Head to head, without my lavabending, you might beat me a couple times out of ten. Impressive for an actor.”

Bolin flexed and posed, soaking in the praise. Opal hated it when he played up to the crowds. She said it was weird and it wasn’t him, but Bolin figured he wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t him. “I’ve had my share of scraps in my life. I have fought with and against the Avatar, and I’m still here.”

The groan of moving metal echoed through the valley like the tolling of a bell. Bolin dropped to his knees and clamped his hands over his ears. Ghazan watched the domes rise and lock into place. “Humph.”

“What?” The dome banged shut.

“Guess Gao Ling’s army arrived quicker than we thought.”

Zaofu’s security team rushed forward, metal breastplates replaced by combat fatigues but helmets still in place. Ghazan was rushed off to join the rest of the mercenaries, while Bolin accompanied Suyin and the rest of her family on a tram ride to the dome nearest to the battlefield. He stood beside his mother-in-law at the head of the car, watching the initial skirmish taking place to the south. Bullets and bending flew back and forth, with the occasional shell from the artillery atop the cliffs. There were no tanks or planes to be seen.

“Smart,” Suyin said. “Kuvira has always been a brilliant strategist. This looks like nothing more than a probe at our defenses. They want to scout and keep us on our toes. I’m glad Kuvira recognized the maneuver.”

Bolin didn’t know anything about war. From a distance, he could hardly tell which side was which. It was all one big jumble of greens and grays and fighting. Like the rumbles he and his brother used to be involved in with the Triads but on a bigger scale with worse consequences. He remembered how he used to feel when it was over, when the adrenaline wore off and all that was left was the fear that his brother was dead. He wondered how many brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, parents and children were involved in the battle below. _Hurry up, Korra. Hurry up and stop this._

He went and sat down beside his wife. “Remind me to thank Varrick later. As soon as possible, in fact.”

Opal grasped his hand. “Okay.” She knew his past. She understood why. 

They spent the night waiting with the rest of Opal’s family, all except Suyin, who spent every moment with her advisors, watching her military protect her city. Bolin admired his family’s attempts to distract themselves. Huan droned on about his most recent sculptures. Wei and Wing sparred and managed to rope Bolin in at one point. Baatar and Junior tried to reassure everyone with technical explanations of the reasons the domes were safe. They were halfway through _Nuktuk vs. the Southern Raiders_ when the aerial bombardment began, shaking the domes and their attempts at distraction.

Zaofu continued to shake through the night, and Bolin eventually gave up on sleep. He wandered aimlessly and found himself outside staring at the blank grey ceiling. The occasional dust mote drifted down like a snowflake and settled in his hair, jarred loose by the impacts on the dome. A very close explosion, possibly right outside the dome, nearly knocked him off his feet.

“Loud, isn’t it?”

Bolin jumped. Emerging from the shadows like a beady-eyed demon, Ghazan was still smirking. “Why aren’t you out there fighting?” Bolin asked.

“Because my fight didn’t start yet.” The lavabender lifted a chunk of dirt from the ground and watched it flow like water between his fingers. “But it’s about to. I figured I’d come talk to you first.”

“Look, Ghazan, I appreciate that you’re such a huge fan, but this isn’t right. You’re needed out there, with your fellow mercenaries.”

“I’m not mercenary.” Ghazan blew out a hesitant breath. “Sit, kid. I got something to tell you.”

###

“I don’t think I wanted to know all that,” Bolin muttered.

“It doesn’t make you feel better knowing Korra has some help?”

It did. Of course it did. Something about Ghazan struck Bolin strange, like trash out of the garbage that he had no choice but to eat from lack of better options. “I guess it’s a good thing to have help, but why hide? Suyin would be happy to welcome a friend of Korra’s.”

Ghazan raised an eyebrow, the same way Mako did whenever Bolin said something stupid. “You know that woman better than that. You really think she’d trust somebody nobody knows just because he claims to be a friend? You’re smarter than that.”

“We can’t just sit here and wait around! Who knows when Korra will get here? You said Zaofu would be lucky to hold out another two days!”

“No worries. Korra will be here tomorrow, along with one of my friends in the Red Lotus.” Ghazan held up an envelope. “Suyin probably received a similar letter tonight. Which, of course, is what brings me here. Like I told you, when Korra enters the fight, my job is to take out Gao Ling’s general. I could do it alone, but hey, what better help than Nuktuk, Hero of the South!”

Bolin frowned. He was tempted. He was really tempted. “Opal wouldn’t like it.”

“Does your wife control you?”

“Have you ever been married? Of course she does!” Ghazan chuckled, and Bolin scowled at him. “Look, I appreciate that you think enough of me to offer, and I would love to help Korra, but I’m an actor. I don’t know anything about stealth missions or war.”

“You said you did work for the Triads, right? You ever kidnapped someone?”

Bolin nodded. Too many times. Those were always the worst jobs. The tension while he snuck into a house, the dozens of scenarios in his head of what he would do if they were caught, the panic and fear when they finally nabbed the target, he hated every second of it.

“Same concept,” Ghazan said. “Come on, I know you want this.”

He didn’t. He didn’t want it. He wanted to go back to his bed with his wife and wake up to eat breakfast with his family. He wanted to wait this out just like the rest of them. “Okay. Do you have a way out of the dome?” Most of all, Bolin wanted to help those people dying outside on the battlefield. Curse his stupid big heart.

Ghazan gave him the Mako look again. “How do you think I got in here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarification: Gao Ling is a province near Zaofu, not a person.
> 
> So, what did you all think of the AU here? And did I get Bolin right personality wise?


	17. Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a little dark, but it was necessary going forward. And it's not that bad.

P’Li’s bloody eyes shimmered in the flames, and her tattoo drank in the battlefield below like a lost soul in the desert come across an oasis. For the first time, Korra felt frightened of the imposing combustion bender.

“Done coming up with a plan?” P’Li asked, staring hungrily down from their perch on the cliff. 

Korra surveyed the scene one last time. The rising sun glared off Zaofu’s closed domes, hiding the city’s strength. Gao Ling’s army was not so fortunate. Every detail could be made out as it crawled forward to begin the day’s engagement, every arrogant face hiding behind every tank or mech easily numbered. “You’re sure you’re accurate enough to blast the planes?” Korra asked.

“More than sure.”

“Then I’m ready. Help out how you can down below. Try to focus on the hardware. Taking out the vehicles is more important than the troops.”

Korra jumped from the cliff and into the past. Into the day that had nearly crippled her soul for good. It wasn’t so different. The same uniforms were stained by the same spreading pools of blood from the same wounds. The same grass was trampled beneath boots and treads, and the same ruts left in the dirt in their wake. The same trenches created the same borders between the two armies.

An explosion threw a tank on its side, crushing a line of soldiers beneath it. Korra smiled. There, at least, was one difference. Last time there was no skyscraper of a woman shooting fire from her forehead.

A squad near the cliff side shouted when Korra landed, and were thrown off their feet when she airbended at them. Another blast from P’Li blasted the legs off a mech. Korra caught the electrified grapple of another and redirected the blast back towards it. Bullets embedded in the rock above her, spitting pebbles down into her hair. She was gone in a cloud of dust before they could find their aim.

###

_“Get the Avatar!”_

_Two mechs tip-toed hesitantly forward. Both crunched in on themselves, blood spraying through the broken cockpit. Two machine guns sprayed bullets toward her. Their shooters crumpled to the ground when the bullets flew back and tore through their necks and chests. Two were smart enough to flee. The Avatar refused them, tossing them into the sky._

_“Get her! She can’t stop you all at-”_

_The colonel seized, and began to gasp desperately. His men fell back. Witch. Monster. Devil. A hundred different insults, and yet none acknowledged the Avatar for what she is. A god._

_All watched as the air left the colonel’s lungs. It encircled his head, swam tauntingly before his bulging eyes. Spirits bless the man, but he put up a fight. He managed a shot from his pistol that hit the ground well short of the Avatar. He threw a rock that she broke into pebbles and pelted him with. His lips cracked and flapped like a fish while he tried to protest._

_The Avatar did not wait for him to fall dead before tossing his limp body away to crunch against a mech, knocking the machine to the ground. “Give me Jianjun!” she demanded. “Or you will all meet the same fate!”_

_Necks broke in unison as bodies fell headfirst to the trampled, bloody mud. Platoons converged on the Avatar and fled burning. Tanks fired their shells and soared through the air like planes. Someone called her name. The Avatar fired metal spikes through his chest. She could not be sure which side the blood staining her boots belonged to. She did not care. This war would end today with Jianjun’s broken, bloody corpse._

_Suyin had been convinced she did not need the Avatar’s help, and paid the price for her arrogance. The domes of Zaofu were close behind the Avatar, victory for the invaders within arm’s reach. Jianjun knew it. His army had lined up that morning in full force, the same as the previous morning, ready to overwhelm what remained of Zaofu’s forces and take the city. He had believed not even the Avatar could stop him. He, too, had paid for his arrogance._

_A bloody sun hazy from smoke continued to fall on a day of retreat, back across the blackened wasteland. Ashes flitted along a hot wind like snow. The Avatar’s boots crunched charred bones as she tossed aside dead bodies. Broken, twisted mechs were abandoned. Others had not been so fortunate, their limp hands dangling from the wreckage. Above the rhythmic rat-a-tat of machine guns and the thunder of shells blasting from tank cannons, she could hear desperate orders and a single, shrill, panicked voice. The Avatar trained on that voice, disposing of any who got in her way, as any god would._

_Three tanks trained their cannons on her. Two had them twisted back on themselves. The third managed to fire a shell. She sent it back through the tube. Someone grabbed her shoulder and she tossed him. A mech fired a net at her, and she blasted it away before launching the machine into the air with a pillar of rock._

_The entire battlefield seemed to be converging on her now. She had no time for such games. Fire plumed from her hands, and she began to spin until the area was awash in flame. What remained of the dead and trampled grass crackled and burnt away. Those caught within the smoking circle screamed as they burned. The Avatar cared not which side they belonged to. Zaofu, Jianjun, both were obstacles to the man whose pitiful voice squeaked and cracked as it gave orders._

_Jianjun sat within his mech, the largest and gaudiest of them all, a megaphone in hand. His eyes widened with horror when he saw the reckoning coming his way, and the hatch to the cockpit slammed shut. “Stop her!” he screamed, his static voice muffled. “Stop the Avatar!”_

_“Don’t kill him!” someone else shouted. “We must take him alive!”_

_The Avatar laughed. She did not do alive. **Balance must be kept. Those who upset balance have no place in this world.** Jianjun had upset balance. He had challenged the Avatar, and must die. The same voice pleaded again. “He must stand trial. We have to know who pushed him to start this war. He-”_

_The Avatar crushed him with a wall of earth. Jianjun’s mech ran forward in formation with six others._

###

Korra dodged the infantry, focusing all of her attention on the hardware posing the biggest threat. She tipped tanks on their sides. She tore arms and legs off mechs. She ripped the axles from jeeps and popped tires. P’Li wrecked the planes as they dared soar above.

Now able to focus their efforts on the boots on the ground, Zaofu’s army turned the tide. Korra dodged her way through the gradually retreating invaders towards the command at their rear. Lengths of metal strips shot from her hands to bind the ankles of anyone with the necessary stripes on their uniforms. With every capture, more of the soldiers at the frontline abandoned their weapons and fled.

A reserve squadron of tanks rumbled along the ground towards Korra. She dodged their shells and tipped them over, all the while continuing to capture what officers she saw and dodging the fire concentrated her way. The wounds began to take their toll. Bruises where she was banged her shins against rocks. Burns when she did not dodge an explosion in time. Scratches where bullets nicked her skin.

The voices built against the constructed walls of her minds, their whispered temptations chipping larger chunks away with every new pain upon her body. _Any who hurt the Avatar must suffer that same pain tenfold. They are challenging you. You must answer that challenge! Hurt them! Kill them!_

Korra ignored the voices, her teeth clenched together hard enough to shatter. Two more mechs advanced on her. Five on foot sprayed automatic fire using them for cover. Korra raised a barricade and punched sections towards them. Three fell, and another when a mech was knocked over. Stinging, icy pain spread through Korra shoulder, and she ducked down. Just a scratch. She stood and ran forward. 

_They hurt you. Hurt them more. You must always hurt them more._ Korra roared a wary cry and knocked the second mech to the ground. The last soldier’s gun fell from his hand. His eyes bulged and tears cleaned his dirty cheeks as he struggled against Korra’s bloodbending. She closed the distance in a long jump and crunched her fist against his jaw.

_Not enough! You are too merciful!_

“Shut up!” Korra shouted.

Terrified screams started somewhere ahead and grew louder as they spread Korra’s way. Bodies collided and legs tripped over each other in haste to flee. No one paid attention to Korra. Not even the mechs or tanks tried to kill her. Korra ran past them, sweat beginning to drip like rain from her face and fists. Too hot. She pushed her wobbling legs through the swampy, suffocating heat towards its source.

Lava shimmered like a desert mirage as it spread throughout the Gao Ling camp. Korra rubbed her eyes, assuming it was a trick. When she looked again and the lava was still spreading, she turned to run. A panicked, recognized voice calling her name made her turn back around.

Bolin stood at the center of the deadly pool, raising rock walls to fend off attacks, while a tall, long-haired man at his side spread the lava in every direction, forcing the Gao Ling soldiers back. An unconscious man lay on the ground between them. Korra squinted, trying to recognize him. A general’s emblem was sewn onto his sleeve.

“Korra, watch out!” Bolin shouted.

She managed to create an air buffer strong enough to deflect the worst of the explosion, but not enough to keep her from being thrown against the hard rock of a tent’s support. The pain and heat melted her brain, making the world swim dizzily. Korra tried to struggle to her feet. A rock collided into her ribs.

_Fight! Stop holding back! You are the Avatar!_

The heat cooled, and her sweat fled, too frightened to remain on her body. Korra tossed away the lava closing in on her with a flick off her wrist. When she opened her eyes, they glowed bright enough to light the world.

###

_A flat circle of bodies surrounded the broken remains of Jianjun’s mech. Those still alive had learned. They kept their distance, weapons dropped to the ground. Tanks and mechs stood idle at an even greater distance. Their pilots had learned their machines would only make their deaths all the more gruesome._

_Jianjun lay twitching in the bloody mud. Feeble pebbles were all his bending could produce. Painful winces accompanied every movement. “I…I surr…surrender, Av…Avatar.”_

_No surrender. **Surrender allows the evil to regroup. Mercy births vengeance.** Korra grabbed him by his collar and yanked the dictator to his feet. Blood bubbled between his broken teeth. The bubbles broke and dribbled over his lip and down his chin. One eye was swollen closed and purple. The other widened._

_“You don’t get to surrender,” the Avatar growled. “Not after what you’ve done.”_

_“Please!” Jianjun begged. The weak always revealed their true nature in this moment. “You must take me prisoner! The rest of the world would never-”_

_Korra’s hand squeezed off whatever further protest the liar might lie. His neck was weak. Just like the rest of him. Jianjun would learn. And through him, so would the rest of the world._

###

 _Good._ The voices sang with glee. _Now teach them._

The Gao Ling soldiers were pinched now, trapped between the spreading lava devouring the earth to one side and the advancing Zaofu troops on the other. Korra allowed them no time to think. She crashed wave upon wave of the lava onto the troops to the rear, forcing them into full flight towards the Zaofu assault. Their screams made her smile. Korra was gone. The Avatar had returned. 

P’Li had joined her at some point, and was unleashing her ruthless power upon the Gao Ling army. The bender at Bolin’s side continued to destroy the camp, melting it to the ground. Everything became a blur. The world was blood, fire, and death. A freefalling plane descended towards Korra. She caught it in mid-air and tossed it into the crowd. Dozens rag-dolled through the air.

When it was over, the Avatar was reluctant to relinquish control. Korra blinked it away, her entire body sore, tired, her mind pulsing and her eyes wet. Celebratory hands clapped her back. P’Li laughed, smoky as a crisped pig. The lavabender took long strides forward to hug the combustion bender, and she only laughed all the harder. Bolin kept his distance. He couldn’t even meet Korra’s eyes. 

She wished she could do the same.

“That was incredible,” the lavabender said. “Bolin told me the Avatar at full strength was indescribable, but wow. You’re amazing, Avatar.”

“Yes, she is,” P’Li said. “Great work, Avatar.”

Korra dropped to a knee, unable to remain upright. Zaofu’s soldiers were now moving over the blackened remains of the valley, sorting the living from the dead and detaining them. Bolin had turned his back to join them. She tried to call out. She knew better. She had fallen, and hard.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” the lavabender said. “You did what you had to. It was a choice between victory and death and you chose victory. Great work.”

Ash drifted down like snow and rested in the Avatar’s hair.


	18. Her Korra

“The number of casualties are yet to be confirmed, but are expected to estimate around five-thousand deceased, and perhaps as much as-”

Asami flipped the television off. She didn’t want to hear it. There was enough stress in her life without wondering what had gone so terribly wrong in Zaofu and what part Korra may have played. The Avatar was confirmed to have survived the fight. Everything else did not matter to her right now.

Varrick met Asami within the barren remains of a warehouse. To look the eccentric billionaire in the eyes, you’d think he had lost nothing in the thefts. “How about that footage from Zaofu?” he said. “I’ll tell you, that was rousing stuff! I even hear Bolin got into the fight. I have ten different writers penning ten different scripts as we speak! We’ll inscribe Bolin’s heroics at the Second Battle of Zaofu into history!”

“And I suppose the truth is irrelevant?” Asami asked bitterly, glad that Varrick cared more about his movie star than whatever rumors currently floated around about Korra.

“The truth is what we make it! That’s the magic of film, kid.”

Asami turned her back to survey her empty warehouse. Varrick prattled on a few more moments before joining her. This particular warehouse had held Future Industries brand parts for passenger airliners. Now there was nothing but dust from wall to wall. 

“Is it the same at the others?” Asami asked.

“Every one. And your office was burned like an asshole illiterate stepped into a library and became angry at all the weird squiggles. Smart move to empty it before you left. It looked like whoever set the fire ransacked the place searching for something first.”

Asami had suspected so. Her estate had been much the same when she returned home. Desks flipped, drawers tossed, her workshop a mess of scattered, broken tools and parts. Her garage was emptied of its Satomobiles. She didn’t know what they searched for or whether she had unknowingly left it behind. Every sensitive piece of company information had been transferred to either Varrick’s offices in Republic City or other Future Industries locations in other cities. 

“We’re clueless about who did this. The cameras were disabled, there’s no witnesses, no prints worth a damn. Good thing you’re almost as rich as I am or you’d be in a real pickle.”

Asami marched hopefully towards the window to her left. She took a drill from the toolbox she carried, drilled a hole in a spot beneath the window frame, and reached inside with a tiny pair of pliers. “How about the building next door? Was it robbed, too?”

Varrick raised an eyebrow. “Why would it be?”

A break. It would probably provide nothing worth mentioning, but it gave Asami much needed hope. 

The neighboring building’s head of security set up the proper footage for her and left the engineer and Varrick alone to watch the tape. Asami zoomed through the footage as fast as it would go. The timestamp in the corner read 00:01 when four shadows, their clothes darker than the moonlit warehouse, crept into view.

“How in the world did you convince the owner of this building to use his security?” Varrick asked.

“I didn’t. I went straight to the security team.” Asami strained to make out whatever features she could. “They were more than happy to help once I began talking yuans. Apparently their boss doesn’t appreciate his security team like he should.”

“Smart move. Your security team was dead as big band music and the tapes in the monitor room wiped clean when the police arrived.”

Even when the thieves raised the shutter door to the loading dock outside, moonlight spilling in like water through a broken dam, their hoods and coverings obscured their faces. She already knew who they worked for. She was hoping for a face or two to give the police. A transport truck backed into the building, and more thieves emerged. They picked the warehouse clean within an hour.

“Might as well bring this tape to the police.” Asami bit her bottom lip, focusing on the pain. “Maybe they can gleam some new info from it.”

###

It was late when she walked through the door of her hotel room. She flopped down onto the couch and closed her eyes. 

_…six-thousand dead, and the count still rising. Officials estimate as much as another month may pass before an accurate assessment is completed. “The truth is, we may never know how many passed,” one source says._

Asami pinched the bridge of her nose. “Korra, what happened? Where are you?”

There had been no sighting of Korra since the battle ended. The only thing anyone could agree on was that she had not perished in the battle. She had been very much alive when it was over, and at the center of the brutal onslaught which ended the fighting. _Maybe I create a new, better reputation this time around. Or maybe I’ll slip. Either way, it’s best I find out._

Asami wanted nothing more than to talk to Korra, and find out what had happened. Even with every hardship weighing down on her shoulders in that moment, her lover was the concern keeping Asami up at night, shoving to the forefront of her thoughts in a way so Korra that Asami didn’t bother questioning it.

How did she manage that? It wasn’t like Asami was bereft of her selfish concerns. While far from ruined, Future Industries had suffered a blow which required all her attention to heal from. Another customer had canceled their scheduled orders that day, the fourth in the three days. Asami was practically burning money towards resource acquirement and overtime to replace what had been stolen. Photos of her and Korra on vacation in the Fire Nation had hit the tabloids, and with the ruthless rumors of the Avatar’s role in the Second Battle of Zaofu and the massacre at a facility in the Fire Nation, Asami’s connection had poisoned Future Industries on the stock market. 

Korra’s sweet smile danced behind the engineer’s closed eyelids. Her piercing blue eyes swam innocently, happily, the scars buried deep. Asami could pinpoint every moment along the path from friendship to now. It was as clear in her mind as her hand before her face, as easily diagnosed as a malfunctioning engine. She knew exactly how and why she had fallen for Korra.

Yet there she was, tired to the bone and trying to understand it.

The night they met was as fresh in Asami’s mind as the blueprint of a Satomobile. She had expected little when she approached the Avatar at the party. Best case scenario, the young woman tells her off politely. Asami was nothing if not social, however, and always willing to make the effort, so she approached Korra willing to suffer any ill consequences. The fascination had been immediate, like a car crash that crippled a car but left the driver unscathed. Asami had yearned to learn more. The massacre later that night had only left her throat dry, wishing for more.

Companionship had come naturally to them. They simply clicked, despite the differences between them. Being around Korra was the easiest thing in Asami’s life. Their eventual intimacy was effortless, despite the young Avatar’s reluctance to grow closer. Everything about them was a joy, a pleasure. 

Asami had known the risks of growing close. Even now, she regretted nothing. She did not blame Korra for what the White Lotus had done to her company. It was a risk she had known the first time she invited Korra into her bed. Before that, even. Korra had always been forthcoming about the risks of association with the Avatar. It had never mattered it did not matter now.

Attempts towards distraction through dinner and work failed miserably. Midnight bore down on Asami like her cars during a crash test, but she could not sleep. Sleep was no common occurrence in her life. There was always too much to do. Paperwork to sign. Contracts to read. Schematics to design. Rivals to plot against. Losing herself in work was as natural as breathing. Eventually, Asami tried at sleep and failed. She dressed, threw on her jacket, and began the long walk back to her ruined offices. Maybe it would even give her a chance to bring order to the unruly chaos that was her brain.

She spotted the tails long before they made their move.  
The fight was brief. They must have assumed Asami weak, as they sent only women. She diverted down an alleyway, glad she had dressed in dark colors, and tossed the first to grab hold of her. A forearm smashed into her cheek. She grabbed the knee aimed at her gut and wrenched it. 

They came out of the shadows in pairs, throwing fists and feet in choreographed patterns. Good. Not good enough. Asami attacked to keep them defensive and break their routines. It was a lesson her self-defense instructor had reiterated until she knew it like a favorite lullaby; the best defense against multiple aggressors is to rob them of their aggression.

“Not bad,” a sweet, surprising voice spoke, every breath labored. “A little bit of bending and I’d think we were fighting the Avatar instead of her lover.”

“I’m happy to have surprised you,” Asami spat.

“Same here.”

Cold metal wrapped around Asami’s wrist and yanked her arm back, pulling insistently at her joint. Another bound both her ankles and tripped her forward. Two pairs of hands caught her before she fell to the ground, and her free arm was yanked behind her and bound beside the other.

One of them stepped forward, fist bunched angrily and teeth bared. Another stopped her. “No, don’t bother. She beat us in a fair fight. Besides, we don’t need to beat a helpless woman to send our message. This is enough.”

“When Korra finds out-”

“She’ll be very angry. I mean, we attacked the woman she loves. We could have kidnapped her. Maybe even killed her. This will only fuel her vendetta against the White Lotus. No matter what we do, she’ll be furious.”

Asami narrowed her eyes, realizing the game. She dared not voice it. Better to continue in her current role, where she knew consequences and the outcome.

“We can hurt Korra in many eyes, Ms. Sato. We can hurt her in the worst of ways, by stealing everything she loves from her. Tell her. Tell her that if she does not cease this war, we will do just that. Consider yourself lucky that we will not start with you.”

The metal bindings released, and Asami just managed to throw her hands before her to protect herself. When she looked up, she was alone.

###

Considering her experience that night, Asami should have been wary of the soft, electronic light spilling into the hallway from the entertainment room. When she entered to find Korra huddled on the couch, her head resting wearily on the arm and her tangled hair spilling messily over the material, Asami should have shown surprise. Instead she smiled expectantly. 

Dark sapphires spotted with bright light from the television looked up in response to Asami clearing her throat. Naga lifted her head from behind the couch, and went back to sleep. “Hey, Sami,” Korra greeted hesitantly.

Asami buried her worries deep. “It’s good to see you.”

“You don’t look surprised at all.”

Two news anchors whispered the night’s lead story. Zaofu. Asami resisted the urge to run over and turn the television off. Instead she walked calmly over to join Korra on the couch, grabbed the remote, and flipped down a channel. She didn’t look to see what she had changed the channel to. As long as it was anything else, she could not possibly care less.

“Your phone rang like seven times since I got here. I guess you’ve been busy.”

“Yeah. The White Lotus did a number on my company, but nothing a few weeks of hard work won’t fix.”

“Have they bothered you since you came back to Republic City?”

 _No matter what we do, she’ll be furious._ “No. Well, not directly. I’m sure they’re working behind the scenes to stall my recovery efforts, but they did their damage. No big deal. I’m sure they’re way too busy trying to beat you to bother with me now.”

“Argh, they’re pissing me off so much! I just want to crack their damn heads open!” Korra vaulted up from the couch and began pacing. Steam puffed from her nose as she stomped back and forth. “It’s bad enough what they did to me, now they want to hurt everyone I love? Damn them! They want to provoke the Avatar, I’ll show them the Avat-”

Asami grabbed her lover’s wrist, and the room went silent. Tears glistened in Korra’s eyes. The strength fled her body alongside a sobbing breath. She fell willingly into Asami’s arms.

“I failed. When the crucible was laid down, I came up short. I slaughtered those people, Sami. I have no idea how many I killed. They’ll probably never put an accurate number to it. It’s all I can think about.” Korra shuddered, and Asami just held her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t stay your Korra.”

“You look and sound like my Korra right now.”

“Like that matters.”

“It makes all the difference.” Asami lifted her lover’s chin, wanting to make sure she was listening. “War is not the place for unrealistic expectations. I’ve known you a long time, Korra. There was a time not that long ago when you would have gladly massacred Gao Ling’s army and made no apologies. You know what I see right now? Genuine remorse. Empathy for the dead. Sympathy for their loved ones. A good person. I see my Korra.”

Korra cried. Asami held her. She considered every tear a victory. She smiled proudly as her shirt grew damp, considering it a badge of honor. When the tears stopped, and Korra dragged her weary, red eyes up, a relieved smile brightened her face. “Better?” Asami asked.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Asami woke the next morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. She found a rested, joyous Korra humming as she cooked. “Morning, babe,” the Avatar said. “Hungry.”

A hungry grumble was Asami’s answer. “So, have you heard from your parents?”

Korra nodded as she shoveled eggs onto a plate. “They’re keeping ahead of the pursuit. That’s my next stop. I’ll be leaving today.” 

“Good.” Asami wondered if she should tell Korra about the White Lotus attack, now that she had calmed down. She did not wonder long. “I think we could both use a day off. I know there’s a lot to do, but it’s been weeks since we took a chance to relax.”

Surprisingly, Korra did not protest. “What did you have in mind?”

“Varrick was telling me a few days ago about a movie his film studio released. Those tend to be fun distractions.”

Korra grinned and struck a flexing pose, spatula dripping onto the tiles below. “I am Nuktuk! I always save the day! Especially with the help of my trusted polar bear dog, Naga!”

The massive animal lifted her head and woofed.

Korra cheered and tossed a strip of bacon to her dog, and Asami smiled. The White Lotus would not win. Asami would not let them.


	19. One Day Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't really feeling this as I wrote it, but I hope it's up to the usual standard.

Tonraq stepped out into the freezing morning, breathed in the air so cold it could freeze his blood within his veins, and grinned. Even those who lived their entire lives at either of the poles hid like hibernating rabbit bears from mornings like these. Tonraq ran from nothing. He took another deep breath, grinning at the shiver which clacked his knees together like two blocks of ice. It would be a beautiful day.

Senna was awake as well, speeding around the kitchen preparing breakfast. Her husband grabbed a knife and began chopping vegetables. “I take it our friend left last night? Did she say when she’d be back?” he asked. “I’d like to move on today, if possible.”

“She said she’d be back early. Can’t you tell I’m cooking for three?” Tonraq shrugged, and his wife sighed. “You’re never going to learn how to plan portions, are you?”

“Probably not.” Tonraq leaned over and kissed his wife on the temple.

Senna’s frustration eventually became unmanageable, and she forced him from the kitchen while she finished cooking. The burly waterbender returned to the partially written letter he had left in the bedroom. The letter he was writing for Korra. His daughter. Just the thought still made Tonraq smile as goofily as he did the day his little girl was born, back in those frightening first days he had taken for granted, unaware of who his daughter was and what fate demanded of her.

He tapped the pen against his knee, the words coming no easier than when he last stopped. He was over thinking it, he knew that. Anything besides scathing anger would make Korra happy. Their movements and safety were reported by their new waterbending friend, and she had a much better idea of how safely word to Tonraq’s daughter. He tapped the pen and over thought it anyway. 

The door opened in synch with the gentle clatter of plates on the table. Tonraq looked down. All he had managed was a sentence. He placed the pen back down, deciding to try and complete the letter after the move. The move required his attention today. 

Ming-Hua stalked into her chair like a cat prepared to pounce; her entire body was tense, her eyes darted around, her tongue occasionally swept across her dry lips. The liquid limbs joined to the stumps at her shoulders moved effortlessly as she retrieved her plate and poured a glass of juice. When Tonraq and Senna joined the woman at the table, her gaunt features remained trained on her plate without greeting.

“How are you, Ming-Hua?” Senna asked.

A shrug was her answer. Water gripped a fork and stabbed at scrambled eggs.

“We’re packed, I checked the truck, and I gave the word,” Tonraq said, not bothering with niceties like his wife insisted on, no matter how Ming-Hua ignored the gestures like a desert, fearing it would suck the moisture from her body. “If there’s anything else we need to do, or anything that came up, best mention it now before we’re on the road and it’s too late.”  
The Red Lotus woman shook her head. “I watched the town all night. I checked everywhere. I listened to everyone. You’re safe.”

“And you sent word to…whoever it is you send word to about the move?”

Her only answer was a nod.

Tonraq shrugged and began devouring the contents of his plate while Senna continued her attempts at amiable conversation. She was ever the diplomat, the understated strength behind her husband’s success. Anyone who doubted her strength need only see how she had held their protest group together in the long months Tonraq spent imprisoned. Ming-Hua may never respond to Senna’s sweet words and friendly nature, but she would keep trying.

“It is truly fascinating to watch you maneuver those arms so naturally,” she said. The genuine tone even grasped Ming-Hua’s evasive attention. “How long did it take you to master that technique?”

“I still haven’t,” Ming-Hua said. Her raspy, curt voice had softened. “I will never stop improving on their usefulness. I learned to control them at eight-years-old, and was perhaps fourteen before the feel became second-nature.”

Senna smiled. “I admire your dedication. Many would have stopped at simple functionality. Many more would never have bothered. They would have been content to bemoan their loss.”

The armless woman sneered. “My disfigurement is no curse to bemoan. It is a blessing. I have arms that do not tire, that are not limited in shape by their bones, that can serve a variety of purposes. The only things I bemoan are those who blind themselves to the possibilities.”

Tonraq had seen Ming-Hua’s effectiveness with her watery arms in action, and could not help but agree. She moved them with a skill most waterbenders simply did not possess, even if they possessed the dedication. They made the quick woman quicker, provided her strength beyond most men, let alone women her size, and the instinctive concentration required to control the arms extended to all of her bending. Tonraq couldn’t recall seeing any bender who was quicker or more creative with her techniques. 

Rumbling engines paraded in seemingly non-stop procession throughout the morning as Tonraq’s closest advisors and companions left town. Such was the routine. If by some chance their plans had been discovered, and a trap waited along the route, Tonraq and Senna would not be the ones to stumble into the net. They would have warning, and could plan accordingly.

The shocks of a lumbering transport van squeaked and groaned as the vehicle passed by. Senna frowned at her husband, and received a frown back. They didn’t want their friends walking into traps for them. It was a selfish attitude, Tonraq knew that, but he had never asked anyone to fight his battles for him, and that’s what his friends were doing. They were fighting his battles. 

Ming-Hua’s addition, while breeding some jealousy with how quickly she had earned Tonraq and Senna’s trust and a place at their side, had helped greatly when it came to staying hidden and ahead of pursuit. She had told them much of her years fleeing and fighting the White Lotus. With her help, they had sniffed out traps like a polar bear dog and torn them apart. They had captured prisoners and learned more about Unalaq and his agents within a few weeks than the entirety of the previous eight years spent protesting his regime. Now when Tonraq heard those engines pass by, while habit made him frown, worry was but a dying flicker easily extinguished.

Noon was still half-an-hour away when the truck was packed full and ready to depart. Ming-Hua took her place in the bed, squeezed in among the bags and trunks. Senna slumped her head back in her seat. She smiled wearily over at her husband. 

“Another day.”

Tonraq started the engine up, and reached over to take hold of his wife’s hand. “One day closer.”

For the first time, they could see the end of the journey, the light at the end of the tunnel growing larger with every step forward. A true home in the Northern Water Republic. No one pursuing them. Late nights and later mornings in bed. Fun days with friends without fear of the faces walking past. Visits from Korra and chances to dote on her the way the White Lotus had never allowed them.

Korra. Tonraq grinned, and Senna squeezed his hand. Having Korra back in their lives still seemed an impossible dream, a possibility they had never allowed themselves and could hardly grasp hold of now that the dream had come true. Tonraq had nearly given up hope. Every story he read, every sliver of footage he watched, they hammered the notion into his brain that his little girl was gone, ruined by the White Lotus.

Senna had never lost faith. And her faith had been rewarded. 

“Did you send your letter?” she asked.

The paper sat within a coat pocket, pressed tight to Tonraq’s chest. “No. I didn’t finish it in time. You know I’m not good with letters. I’m a face to face kind of person.”

“Sweetie…”

“I know, I know. I’ll send it as soon as we settle in.”

“You need to. Korra needs to hear from us personally. Especially right now.”

News about Zaofu was everywhere at the moment, and would not go away anytime soon. Tonraq remembered the way he had thirsted for information after the first battle over the metal city, despite the way every sip burned like acid. Things were different then. He did not know his daughter during those years. He had obsessed over learning everything he could. It hurt, but if pain was the only way to keep tabs on Korra, he had been willing to accept it.

He didn’t need to hear about Zaofu this time. This time, he knew who his daughter was. “I know. I’ll send it as soon as I can.”

The snow glistened wetly in the hot sun, and the slick roads forced Tonraq to crawl along slower than he liked. The occasional tire track marked where the others had already passed. Senna kept the map splayed out in front of her, giving directions. Ming-Hua was as still as a statue in the bed. Peaceful hours passed in silence.

Tonraq had always loved road trips growing up. He’d met Senna on a road trip. He was pretty sure Korra was conceived on one. When his little girl was born, he’d dreamed of vacations spent on the road, of visiting landmarks and discovering obscure restaurants, of the good and bad hotels, of braving the volatile weather common to the South.

Sharp, urgent taps atop the roof above jolted Tonraq from his daydream. “Stop the car,” Ming-Hua shouted, yet still somehow managed to hiss like a petulant cat, the words cutting through the wind. “I saw something.”

She jumped to the ground, her arms swaying gently up and down. Her head swiveled back and forth while she watched the snow-blanketed hills. The distinct rumble of a pack of engines howled their presence. Left, right, behind them, everywhere. Tonraq grabbed a pistol from the glove box, kissed his wife on the cheek, and hopped out of the truck.

“Get ready to hit the gas, babe.”

He replaced Ming-Hua in the bed as the first snowmobile barreled past the crest of a hill to his right. The armless waterbender rushed towards them. “Go! I’ll hold them off!” Tonraq banged the hood and Senna sped forward. 

They came from every direction, clothed in the blue and white of the White Lotus. Tonraq raised barricades from the snow to slow them down. When they closed in on the truck, he cracked open a barrel of water and began freezing what engines he could hit. An older man with long, grey hair swept back by the wind pulled out a pistol and aimed Tonraq’s way. A blue, watery vine wrapped around his waist and pulled the gunman from his vehicle.

Together, Tonraq and Ming-Hua held off the pursuers for as long as they could. Whenever they closed the distance, Senna rammed them with the truck. It worked for a while, but like swatting at a swarm of bees, they were only delaying the sting. Tonraq soon found himself focused entirely on defending the truck from the fire and waterbending aimed at its wheels. 

Synchronized screams preceded the squeal of metal scraping the road. A sliver of metal sparked and shot at Tonraq’s head, and he barely ducked it. He looked up to see Ming-Hua swallowing the road with snow, forcing the snowmobiles down its gullet. A single fortunate driver escaped the onslaught, only to lose control and crash into the back of the truck.

Tonraq waited for another to escape from the snow now blocking the road. No one did, and he whooped loudly. Senna knocked on the small window in back of the cab. “Is Ming-Hua okay? Can she catch up?”

“She’ll be alright,” Tonraq said. “She’s tough. Just keep-”

He never heard the vehicle that rammed them. One moment he was looking back towards the wrecked metal poking through the snow like prairie lizards; the next he was airborne, the white world spinning round, ready to swallow him the way it had swallowed the snowmobiles. The hard snow jarred his bones when he landed. His shoulder popped as he dragged along the ground, remembering how he had once dragged a guilty Naga into a cold night after the sizable puppy peed in the house. A rock banged off his skull. He swallowed a lump of cold.

###

When he woke, the room was black and warm.

Senna gasped when he groaned. Her knees hit the ground nearby. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.” Something wet dragged across Senna’s forehead beneath Tonraq’s thumb. “How about you?”

“Very luckily so. Nothing is broken, and all I have is a scratch on my scalp. Getting blindsided could have been much worse.”

Locks clicked open to announce the entrance of their captors. Three entered, a pair of unremarkable guards ahead of a tall, stately, surprisingly young man with a well-groomed beard. Clear, innocent eyes the hazel color of a firebender glowed like a flame in the shadows obscuring his robes. 

Tonraq snarled as he pounced. Chains rattled and pulled him back to the dusty concrete. “Careful,” a soft voice said. “Those chains are solid.”

“Let us go!” 

“That won’t happen.” The presumed firebender dismissed his guard. “You will stay here until our business with the Avatar is finished. Depending on her choice, you will either leave here dead or without a daughter. Either way, you will never see the Avatar again.”

“Her name is Korra!” Tonraq pulled at the chains again. The cold iron pressed painfully on a bone.

“Her name is irrelevant.” The young man cleared his throat. “My name, however, is Kichiro, and I am your host until the Avatar has been dealt with. Your captivity will go one of two ways. You will stay here, chained like animals, while we ready more human quarters. If you behave yourselves, you will be moved to those quarters. Resist and you will be beaten like polar bear dogs and left chained here. Meals will be provided three times a day. Your dignity while eating those meals will also depend on your obedience.”

Tonraq’s phlegm landed square on Kichiro’s cheek. The firebender removed a handkerchief from his robes and calmly wiped it away. “You have a few days to decide the comfort of your stay.”

He turned and exited the cell. The locks echoed as they clicked shut, and Senna began to cry. 

“It’s not so bad,” Tonraq said. His arm pulled against the chain again, reflexively desiring to comfort his wife. “We’ll swallow our pride, do what they say, and wait for Korra to come for us. We need to be strong. Be strong for me, Senna. You are strong. You can do this.”

His wife sighed. “You’re right. Korra will come for us.” She smiled over at Tonraq. “At least we’re together this time. You’ll have to educate me on prison courtesy.”

Tonraq smiled back. “It’s pretty simple.”


	20. Patience

“Still nothing?” Asami asked. Her boots rang softly off the stairs as she descended, all shiny black leather, the best of the best.

“Nothing.” Korra’s own boots were worn and beginning to fall apart at the seams. Brown rust spotted the tan, cheap leather, the tips of the laces were gone, and the hemp had frayed. She shook her head, wondering why she was comparing boots, as if she ever cared about her shoes compared to someone else’s. Asami had rubbed off entirely too much on her. “I’m thinking of heading down anyway. Maybe I’ll catch word of them once I’m up North.”

“And then you’ll miss it when they do send word, and finding your parents will take all the longer.” Asami closed the distance and ran a soft, lotioned hand up Korra’s bare bicep. “Be patient. You’ll be glad you were.”

“Patience isn’t my strong suit, Sami.”

“You’re getting there. Besides, I wouldn’t mind another day or two together.”

Despite the worry snowing fat, cold flakes that made her brain freeze, Korra had enjoyed the past two days she never planned to spend in Republic City. Fear was so much easier to face down with Asami. Everything was easier with Asami. Sleep was easier, meditation was easier, happiness was easier. Being Korra and burying the Avatar deep was easy.

Still, it had been two days. The first day was understandable. Mail didn’t always operate like uninterruptible clockwork. Planes were delayed, letters were mixed up, mail trucks broke down, employees quit. Enjoying the first day had been easy. The second day less so.

And now the third day had come and gone, and Korra’s patience was encased in a block of ice. Asami was trying to crack it open, and maybe she would succeed, but the next day the ice would be back.

“Mako says the precinct might have a lead on one of the thieves in that tape I gave him,” she said. “If you want something productive to do, you could come with me to see what they found.”

Korra grinned. As ever, her girlfriend knew exactly what to say. “Sounds perfect.”

###

Dozens of conversations cut off when Korra walked through the door and into the bullpen, like someone had slapped tape over every mouth in the place. The same scared eyes as always stared at Korra. They didn’t bother her. What bothered her were the eyes that usually weren’t scared, eyes in faces she knew, faces she liked, faces that typically greeted her amiably and were willing to have a conversation, but now widened alarmingly and stared at the Avatar as if she might kill them where they sat.

Even Mako seemed apprehensive when he greeted Korra and Asami. A phone rang unanswered, and he turned on the desk it sat atop, glaring down at the metalbender it belonged to. “You going to answer that?” Mako snapped.

“Yes, sorry.”

Mako sighed, his nervous smile emptier than the bag of fire flakes on a nearby detective’s desk. “Okay. Follow me, er, please.”

The tape was paused on screen when they entered. Mako heaved down into a chair with a weary groan. “Are you okay?” Korra asked.

He flinched at her voice, and the Avatar frowned. “Yeah. I’ve been working really hard, but I’m managing. I’m okay. Just fine.”

“As long as you’re okay, managing, and just fine, then,” Korra teased.

Mako scowled at her. The press of a button played the tape. “They did a good job covering their faces. We can’t identify anyone. Last night, though, I compared the truck’s plate to those of vehicles recently reported missing. From there it was simple to track down suspects.” 

He paused the video again. Two men were pointing up at the camera. “The burly man is named Hellfire Hwang. Complete scumbag, and a high-level goon for the Triple Threat Triad. We’ve tried to bust him for years, but he’s always eluded us. The small guy is probably a man who is only known as Turtleneck, but we’re not as sure.”

“So the Triads were hired to do the White Lotus’s dirty work,” Asami said. 

“Looks like it.” Mako shut off the tape and handed her an address scribbled on a piece of paper. “Here are the two addresses Hwang is most commonly found hanging around at.” Two photos followed. “Here’s our most recent mugshot for Turtleneck. We only have surveillance photos for Hwang, but you can see that he stands out in a crowd. Now, we have no legal recourse to go busting down Triad doors.” Mako glanced timidly at Korra. “Luckily the Avatar has no such restrictions.”

It was good news. Great news. Korra tried her best to look as happy as Asami, to have her whole face glow like some beautiful spirit. It was all she could do not to frown. Even Mako was scared of her now. 

“Thank you so much,” Asami said, hugging the detective. “This means a lot.”

Mako rubbed his neck, embarrassed. “Hey, it will do me some good to get these guys off the streets, too.”

The nervous chatter had returned to the desks outside when Korra and Asami walked past. The Avatar thought back to the first time she walked through the precinct, back when she arrived in Republic City to train with Tenzin. They’d looked at her much differently then. And her name by Chief Beifong’s voice hadn’t called her name quite so cordially. 

“Go ahead,” Korra told Asami.

“I’ll be by the car.” Asami pecked her on the cheek. “You remember where I parked, right?”

“That was one time!” The smartass CEO swayed away, grinning.

Lin Beifong’s handshake and grin both lacked the cold, hard steel which defined the woman. Their first meeting had been a display of disapproving sneers, harsh insults, and sturdily constructed walls. Lin’s behavior now was as if a cocoon had cracked open to reveal an entirely different person.

“Hello, Chief Beifong,” Korra greeted courteously.

“I just wanted to thank you for what you did at Zaofu.” The typically frosty police chief smile thankfully. “I know I don’t talk to my family enough, but they are still my family, and I was worried about them. So thank you, Avatar Korra.”

Korra rubbed her neck, her eyes wandering the room, determined to look anywhere but at Lin. “I thought you’d be angry. I got out of hand. Everyone else in this place seems scared to death of me.”

“Not everyone understands that sometimes, you have to do what is necessary, even if it’s not pretty. I’ve been hard on you while you’ve been here in Republic City, but this is different. You weren’t killing petty gangsters we wished to question. You were at war, and you did the right thing. Maybe you’re questioning whether you did the right thing, but you showed a steel to your personality I thought you lacked.”

There was little Korra could think to do but laugh. “Um, thanks. But you were right all those years ago, and I’ve been trying to change. Zaofu was a big step backwards from the person I’m trying to be.”

Beifong walked with Korra outside. Two metalbenders walked by, nodding to their boss. “I’ve grown up around the police,” the chief said. “It’s all I ever wanted to be, even as a little girl. It was expected of me, and unlike Su I was happy to oblige. My first few months, I tried my best to follow the letter of the law, and I still try my best, but this life teaches even the best of us some hard truths about how far the letter of the law goes in cleaning up the streets we swear to protect. Sometimes, you have to go a little further. Thank you again, Avatar Korra. And good luck with whatever it is that brought you here today.”

###

Korra crashed through the door, not bothering to brush away the splinters stabbing through her clothes, only to find Asami standing over five unconscious gangsters. “You’re so fucking hot.”

Asami cocked her hip and rested a gloved palm on the alluring curve. “Why, thank you. Did you find Hwang?”

The Avatar grinned. “Did you have any doubt?”

Mako had been right. The photo he provided had certainly shown a distinctive man, but one still scarred like the rest, with eyes just as stupid, curled lips just as cruel, and a skull just as square and brutish. Once Korra had seen Hwang in person, she understood the difference. The scars seemed deeper and more vivid. The eyes held a crude intelligence. They were still too stupid and cruel to understand his circumstances. When Korra and Asami entered the room, he struggled against his bindings like he had a chance. 

“We know the White Lotus hired you,” Korra said. The gangster calmed immediately. “Don’t be stupid. You’re a petty thief, a meathead bully inflated like a hot air balloon because you’re smarter than the other ants in the anthill. Congratulations. But guess what? I’m the foot slamming down to squash you. If you want any chance of returning to your petty little life, you’ll cooperate and tell us who hired you. Otherwise…well, I’m sure you guys trade spook stories about the things I’ve done to your buddies.”

A glob of spit arced through the air towards Korra’s forehead. She bended it back to hit Hwang in the eye. “Why don’t you try me in a fair fight and see what happens?” he shouted.

“You mean like the six on one odd you had before? “ Korra pulled Asami aside. “What do you think?”

“I’ve fought better.”

The Avatar loosened the bindings around Hwang with a flick of the wrist. “You have your fight, Hwang. Good luck.”

The fight was better than Korra expected. Hwang was quick, and what meager intelligence he’d been born with had all focused on fighting. He used his advantages smartly. His bending kept Asami defensive, and his bulk allowed him to easily manipulate positioning. There were even a few moments where Korra considered stepping in. 

Teeth cracked when Asami’s boot collided with the gangster’s jaw, snapping his jaw shut. A sweep with the leg sent him to the ground. Another kick to the cheek rolled him over. Korra placed her hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Good job, Sami.”

Hwang was much more cooperative when he was bound up in the chair again. “I don’t know names. I barely got a look at the guy’s face. He was young. He was wearing White Lotus robes, and he seemed to know the boss. His voice was kind of girly, but when someone made fun of him the boss had him taken out back and punished.”  
“And you have no idea about a name?”

“None.”

“I do.”

Korra spun around, flames swirling in her fists. “Zaheer? P’Li?”

The two Red Lotus members stepped into the room, along with two others. Korra recognized the man from Zaofu, the lavabender. The second, a thin-faced woman with hard eyes and no arms, was a stranger.

“The man who hired the Triad to clean Ms. Sato’s warehouses out is named Kichiro,” Zaheer said. “Very little is known about his place within the White Lotus, other than his high status. He has spearheaded the effort to destroy the Red Lotus for seven years. Five days ago, he nearly killed Ming-Hua and struck a crippling blow.”

The armless woman stepped forward. Icy blue eyes burned with angry fire. “I’m sorry, Avatar Korra.”

###

_“Sweetie, you’re going to have to trust us.”_

_Korra turned her pout back towards her mother. “It’s not fair. I don’t wanna go back. I wanna stay here with you and Naga.”_

_Senna knelt down and stroked her daughter’s hair gently. It wasn’t fair. She knew that always made Korra calm down. The little girl tried to stay angry, but it was like a wrestling match with Naga. She couldn’t win unless they let her._

_“I promise, sweetheart, we want that more than anything, too, but things aren’t that simple. If we tried to keep you now, it would be really bad for all of us.”_

_“I’m the Avatar!” Korra flexed her little arms, showing off the muscle she’d built in her time at the compound. “I know how to bend everything already. If they try to take me, I’ll beat them up.”_

_“Korra.” Her mother’s tone was the same as when the little girl was busted stealing cookies or using her bending to tease the other kids._

_She couldn’t help it. They told her the Avatar cannot cry, and Korra tried not to, but the tears came anyway. She tried to knuckle them away, but that just made her hand wet and cold. No matter what she did, it only made things worse. They’d punish her for running away like this. They might punish her parents, too._

_“I messed up bad, this time, Mommy?”_

_“No.” Senna smiled. “No, you didn’t. They’ll understand this time. But you can’t keep running to us. I know it’s hard.” Her voice cracked. “Harder than anything in the world. But you only make it harder when you don’t listen to them.”_

_“When I’m done training, I’m going to come back here and I’m never going to leave you again. No one could stop me.”_

_Senna held Korra close, her own teary face soaking into the girl’s shirt. “I love you, Korra. You behave. You stay safe. Your father and I will always be here for you.”_

###

“Very little effort was put into covering their tracks,” Ming-Hua said. “It’s possible the White Lotus didn’t expect me to survive, but I refuse to believe they underestimated me. They’re trying to draw you into a trap.”

Obviously. Korra had fought enough enemies to recognize traps. “Then I shouldn’t disappoint them.”

Asami grabbed her arm. “Korra, don’t. They won’t hurt your parents. They need them alive to lure you. Don’t go for the bait.”

“What am I supposed to do?” The Avatar yanked away from her girlfriend. “Let them be tortured because of me? Screw that.”

“Korra…”

“No! I lost my parents once, and I’m not going to lose them again! Not now! Do you have any idea-”

Korra stopped, realizing what she was about to say. Unfortunately, Asami had finished the sentence herself. Her eyes welled with tears, and narrowed angrily. Stupid. So stupid. Korra reached for a balled fist that did not unclench.

“Avatar Korra,” Zaheer interrupted, “I would agree with Ms. Sato on this. Attacking an expectant White Lotus force is dangerous. If you’re going take this chance, you must do so without hesitation. You must not hold back. You must unleash your every power. If you’re not willing to utilize the full power of the Avatar, then you should stay here in Republic City and plan a different move.”

Asami’s stare begged and pleaded. Korra squeezed her fist apologetically. “Then that’s what I’ll do. I’m sorry, Asami.”

“I understand.” Asami breathed deep. “Just remember what you promised me.”

Zaheer’s grin unsettled Korra’s stomach. “Very good, Avatar Korra. I’ll make arrangements for passage north.”


	21. Failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should have added another section here, probably some kind of flashback, but I couldn't think of anything I wasn't forcing. I think it works well as a dose of action and plot progression.

“I know it’s below us,” Ming-Hua rasped, kneeling in the snow with her makeshift arms bobbing in the air. “I’m not sure how we can get in unseen. Maybe we can’t. They’ll almost certainly hear us tunneling below. By the time we found the entrance, they’ll be ready.”

Korra lifted the sheet of snow from the dead dirt below. Cold, rocky dirt where nothing had grown in years, and nothing would grow. This part was one of many in the Water Republics where the snow never stopped falling and the land was an eternal wasteland of white. The compound she’d grown up in had resided in such an area. A White Lotus prison where she had been incarcerated during the years she should have spent with her parents. The parents now incarcerated beneath her feet by the same jailors who once robbed Korra of her freedom.

She removed a boot and stomped her bare foot down, feeling for the complex, memorizing its layout. Not there. The Avatar shoveled another patch of snow away. Melting drops dripped into her hair. “Get ready,” she told her Red Lotus companions. “We’re going in.”

The ground melted into a clay sea and parted before her. It swallowed her and her companions, gently guiding them below, until they reached the roof of the prison. The metal was cold as ice, but it was still metal all the same. 

“Hit them hard, and don’t stop until my parents are free.”

A piercing, echoing groan shook the snow atop the tunnel, spilling it onto their heads as they jumped through the hole ripped in the roof. Korra dropped inside first and slammed three surprised sentries into the wall. Two more stood from their card game. Ming-Hua wrapped her arms around their waists and crunched them against the roof.

“We only get one try before we’re discovered,” Zaheer said. P’Li stood tall at his side, offering her support. “Think carefully.”

“I don’t need to think.” Korra smashed a door off its hinges. A muffled grunt accompanied the collision of metal against the dull, grey wall. “I know where to go.”

###

Fluorescent lighting glowed dully in the ceiling and pulsed behind Korra’s eyes. Her head pounded like drums. Her fingers had the pleasant ache she only felt when fighting. Black streaks sped across red walls as the alarm lights spun in rhythm with the blaring alarms. Ghazan grinned at her. Spirits help her, Korra grinned back.

The hallway ended and split into two directions. Flames swallowed the junction ahead of two groups of firebenders. Korra and P’Li rushed forward to disperse them, and Zaheer rushed the opening. The White Lotus sentries fell quickly to his attack.

“There are cells in both directions. Zaheer, P’Li, you two fight pretty well as a tandem, so you take the cells to the left. Ming-Hua, you come with me the other way. Ghazan, you think you can hold ground here?”

The lavabender dropped the pouch at his waist. Rocks spilled onto the floor and melted. “Absolutely.”

Korra turned to Zaheer. “Watch your backs. They’ve had plenty of time to prepare for us.”

“Do not worry about us, Avatar Korra,” Zaheer said. He and P’Li smiled at each other. “We are quite experienced with White Lotus traps.”

The path was silent but for the steady clap of Korra’s boots and the soft, stealthy scuffle of Ming-Hua behind her. More guards blocked their path on the stairs leading further below, and were easily dispatched. Another group was taken down at the bottom. Cells lined the walls to both sides. Dry, thirsty throats spat dust as they pleaded, their wasted hands trembling through the thin bars in the doors.

“Do you know Senna? Do you know Tonraq? Have you seen them?” Korra moved from cell to cell. “Tonraq! Senna! Do you know where they are?”

Weak pleas for help were her only answer. Arms attached only to shadows reached for her face, offering no help of their own. Coughs ripped through their lungs. Liquid splattered as metal pails were tipped over. Ming-Hua hissed as she moved along the walls opposite Korra.

A skeletal face banged against the bars. “Please help me. I think I know where they are, but you have to let me out.”

Ming-Hua reached an arm through the bars to grasp the prisoner’s neck, and pulled him flat against the door. “You’ll talk or I’ll break your neck.”

“Wait!” Korra squinted, letting the sharp, wasted features of the prisoner’s bruised face clear and fill. “General Iroh?”

“Please, Avatar,” he pleaded. His raven hair was dirty and thinned, his skin pale and sickly. The broad muscle in his shoulders had vanished. “I’m sorry to use your parents as leverage, but you have to let me out.”

The door was platinum. There was no time to hunt down a key. “Let him go.” The Red Lotus waterbender did so reluctantly, tossing Iroh backwards. His weakened legs collapsed and he fell. “Keep back, General.”

 _Feel the earth within the metal._ Sweat beaded on Korra’s forehead, lakes overflowing and spilling the runoff over her closed eyes. Ming-Hua’s voice was gibberish at the edge of hearing. The heat in her body chased away the cold from the snow above. There was only the platinum, and Korra’s palms flat against the door. The door shuddered, settled, and shuddered again.

Korra ripped it away with a triumphant laugh. Ming-Hua hurried inside to retrieve Iroh. “Remind me never to fight you,” the waterbender said. 

“Thank you, Avatar Korra,” the General said. “These cells form a square. If you continue this way and turn left, and then follow along to the next left, you’ll come across a large pair of doors. Through there is where they take prisoners for questioning. It’s a large, oval room. I heard them drag your parents past my cell on the way there.”

Memories of the Cell, and the instruments within, made Korra’s fists clench and her arms tremble. She shook away images of cold, sharp edges dragging across flesh. “Bring him to Ghazan. Zaheer and P’Li will find their way to me.”

###

Familiar instruments covered the room. Needles, knives, and hammers lay on tables. Racks rested against walls. Medical kits hung on walls. Clothes and towels to wipe away blood perched on a shelf beside a sink. 

Two chairs with straps on the arms sat in the center of the room. Both were empty.

Korra reached up her fingers just in time to intercept a bolt of lightning. She breathed in deep as the electricity pooled in her stomach, traveled up her arm, and shot from her fingertips towards a table covered in torture tools, smashing a leg and spilling them onto the floor. A man in flowing of rich blue and white dropped from above.

“Very good.” His voice was quiet, kind. His hazel eyes had the same effortless studiousness as Asami’s always did. 

Blue fire sprayed from his fingers in waves, crashing heavily down on Korra, trying to sweep her legs from under her. She bore the assault easily, waiting for a lapse. When the lapse came, she again found herself redirecting another arc of lightning. 

The firebender scowled. “Why didn’t you redirect towards me?”

Korra glared at him. “You’re not getting off that easy, asshole. Where are my parents?”

“You will never get a word from me while you hold back. Unleash your strength, and I’ll tell you everything.”

The Avatar snarled and punched air at her opponent. He stayed on the defensive, dodging and jumping and ducking and pivoting to avoid Korra’s bending. Tools flew off tables. A shelf collapsed. The sink broke away, pouring water onto the floor near the firebender’s feet. Korra used it to freeze him in place long enough to knock him into a wall with a blast of air. 

She hurried over and snatched him by his collar. “Where are my parents?”

“You are strong,” the firebender teased. White teeth smiled within the circle of dirt-colored hair around his mouth. “But you are stronger. Show me, Avatar. Show me your power.”

Korra roared, and threw him towards another wall. He used a foot to push off, a pillar of fire smoking from his fist on the rebound. The Avatar sidestepped it, jumped over a proceeding sweep aimed at her knees, and punched through one last attack, her fist not stopping until it crunched against jawbone. 

“Come on!” the man ordered. “Stop holding back!”

 _Those who challenge you must always learn._ The firebender’s teeth clenched as he lifted off the ground, his limbs twisting. You must be a machine. Powerful, efficient, and entirely without mercy. Tendons stretched and joints popped. _You are the Avatar. The spirit of balance and justice._

_Can you promise me something?_

Korra released her puppet, and he fell limp to the ground. When he stood, he was smiling approvingly. “You could have done that five minutes ago and saved all this effort.”

The doors blew off their hinges, catching Korra off-guard and blanketing the room in smoke. When she shook away the pain and looked up, the firebender was gone. Zaheer reached down to help her up. P’Li blasted the ceiling. Korra coughed as another cloud of smoke crawled down her throat.

“He escaped,” the combustor muttered, annoyed.

“Damn it!” Zaheer turned to Korra. “What happened?”

“My parents weren’t here. He escaped.”

“We were so close,” P’Li growled.

“I held back,” Korra continued, not listening. “I took too long because I held back, and he had his chance to escape when you came in.”

Zaheer frowned down at her. “Why did you hold back? That was him. That was Kichiro. We could have crippled the White Lotus with his death. Your mercy will allow him to regroup and plan further atrocities against you, us, and the entire world.”

“I don’t want to be what they want me to be.”

“They want you to be weak. They want you to bow to them. And if you’re going to give them these opportunities to escape, sooner or later you will again bow to them.”

###

P’Li gasped, and a man groaned. Korra turned the corner to find Ghazan slumped against a wall. Blood soaked his clothes beside his breast, and Ming-Hua applied water to the wound.

“Where’s Iroh?” 

The waterbender refused to look at Korra. The anger radiated from her flesh like mist.

“Shot me and ran off,” Ghazan said. “It’s alright, the bullet ripped through a soft spot. It hurts, but the bleeding’s stopping already.”

A spent shell lay on the ground nearby. Korra picked it up and squeezed. It was still hot enough to burn, but she did not let go. “Fucking White Lotus! I have no way of knowing who the hell belongs to them and who doesn’t!”

“It’s a safe bet that someone in a White Lotus prison works for the White Lotus,” Ming-Hua rasped.

“Not now,” Zaheer said. P’Li laughed. “Avatar Korra, there is no use dwelling on today’s mistakes. Reflect and correct. That is the best anyone can do with the past. Even the Avatar.”

_There is no room for mercy. Mercy births vengeance._

_Can you promise me something?_

“We should look around,” Korra said. “Maybe question the other prisoners. They might know what other prisons we should search.”

“Search for what? Kichiro?” Zaheer suppressed a laugh. “That man can not be hunted. We have spent years trying. He will appear when he wishes to appear.”

And Korra’s mercy had lost them a great opportunity. The guilt hunched Korra’s back and weighed atop her head like a crown identifying her failure. “I need to find my parents.”

“You need to win this war, Avatar Korra. Everything else is secondary to ridding the world of the White Lotus. Your parents, your friends, your reputation, none of it matters compared to victory. I admire your desire for self-improvement but now is not the time. You have the rest of your life to change.”

_The Avatar has no parents, no friends, no attachments of any kind. The Avatar is a spirit of justice beyond earthly concerns._

_Can you promise me something?_

_No, Sami,_ Korra thought. _Apparently I can’t promise you that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21 chapters! This is by far the most involved story I've ever written. Normally I go 10-15 chapters, 20 at most. I have had the endgame finalized in my mind since about chapter 5, and I've been gradually working towards it. If I had to guess, I'd say I have another 10 chapters to go, but there might be a few more than that. I'm trying my hardest not to impatiently rush towards the ending, which is a regret I've had with my fics in the past.


	22. Strength

_Not good enough._

Blood dripped like sweat from Korra’s body in fat, mourning drops, and splashed down onto the quivering bodies crouched beneath her. The falling building screeched. Another explosion rocked the streets. The building groaned and pushed, casting its fatal shadow over Death’s chosen few. Korra yelled, tensed, and threw everything she had into a spiraling gale that knocked the falling mass of steel and concrete aside, the cloud of dust upon its impact swallowing the street whole, erasing it from reality. When it cleared, Korra was alone.

_Not good enough._

“Why not?” Korra shouted defiantly.

Twin groans of shifting rubble and pleading throats brought Korra to a pool of blood where she had thrown the collapsing building. Mako and Bolin lay beneath the broken remnants, hands stretched weakly towards her. Spit bubbled pink through their lips. 

_Not good enough._

Opal cried atop a ledge, the wind blowing her tears from her cheeks to splash in the waters below. Blue and white robes flapped behind her, and lips flapped within the hoods, making demands. Korra nodded powerlessly where she waited below. Opal was tossed, and she rushed upwards atop a funnel of water to catch her friend’s wife. The White Lotus disappeared, the waves clawed at Korra’s arms, dragging both her and Opal beneath the surface.

Broken bodies lay motionless on a battlefield, chaotic brush strokes of blue, white, and crimson, Korra’s masterpiece. Smoke filled the air. Fire filled her soul. Her victory burned deep, warming her against the chill of Death surrounding her. Her eyes glowed like the sun. She turned to celebrate with her friends, and they recoiled away. She reached for Asami, and only a ghost of memory remained.

_I’m not good enough._

_No. You are good enough._

Korra stared at Raava, wishing the pure good radiating from the colossal spirit to envelope her embattled soul and bring peace to her mind. Only Raava was not so colossal as she once was, and the light could do no more than cast weak beams into the dark. “How? How do I win? How do I bring peace to both the world and myself? How can I be good enough?”

“Through balance. You must find the peace and balance between your spirit and the Avatar spirit.”

“You told me that before.” Korra glowered. “I’ve been trying the best I can. It’s hard. No matter what choices I make, someone suffers and I end up feeling…wrong. Like there’s a darkness in me that only grows stronger every day. I feel like I’m fighting a battle I can’t possibly win.”

“You _are_ fighting a battle you cannot win. Balance is not a battle. You cannot earn balance through sheer force or victory on a battlefield. Even if you were to eradicate the White Lotus forever, the ambitious and powerful would rush to fill the void left behind. Much like the Avatar cycle, there will always be another.”

“Then how? How do I do the right thing? How do I know the right path to take?”

The spirit seemed to soften, and its voice grew tender. “Not even I can know for sure. I once made a choice to ignore a young man who only wished to help, and nearly perished for it. The right path is never easy to find.” 

“I feel the same darkness as you, Korra. Vaatu may be defeated, but his power is as much a part of life as the grass beneath your feet or the wind through your hair. Light cannot exist without dark, and dark cannot exist without light. The balance between the two is all we can hope to achieve.”

“Is it wrong to use the darkness to your advantage?” Korra asked.

“No. But you must always be cautious, and never rely on it.”

Light filled Korra’s heart, warm and pure, and she closed her eyes.

###

When she opened them again, Avatar Aang stood before a quiet room of shadows. His face was lined, his beard gray, and his eyes empty, the sorrows of life stripping the joy from them.

“You and Aang were two very different Avatars. From the start he was reluctant to accept his destiny. He abhorred fighting, yet his legend was built upon war. Patience and diplomacy were his greatest and most preferred weapons. Yet, so much of what made him great can be found in you, Korra. Your compassion, your loyalty, your desire to do what you think is best for the world, even your shared wish for the admiration of the people. No matter how Aang denied it, and no matter how he hated the burdens of being the Avatar, he loved little more than the admiration the title garnered.”

Korra watched as Aang pleaded with the shadows. Shadows that listened disinterestedly, treating Aang as if his opinion no longer mattered. “He was one of the greatest Avatars ever. It’s hard to imagine him having the same doubts I do.”

“He had those doubts every day of his life,” Raava said. “The greatest of Avatars have always had those doubts, making them agonize over every choice they ever made. I believe you are a great Avatar, Korra. You would not worry like you do otherwise. You would have been yet another ruthless detraction from the Avatar legacy, like those who came before you.”  
Korra smiled. “I’m not sure I deserve that kind of praise.”

“You will.”

Aang vanished, and Roku stood from the shadows. Fire Lord’s Sozin lay flat against a pillar in the broken remains of his throne room while fire spit from the Avatar’s lips. 

“On this day, Roku prevented a war through a countermeasure that lasted the rest of his life and a decade into Aang’s. Yet he did not hold the peace alone. No matter how powerful the Avatar may be, there are always the prideful and arrogant who believe themselves to be equal. Roku played the largest part in delaying Sozin’s imperialistic ambitions, but his friends and loved ones were at his side as well.”

A woman with dark hair and rich crimson robes huddled around a table with similar women in similar robes. “His wife Ta Min used her reputation among the nobility and her many friendships to pressure Sozin against war.” 

Twins with square, handsome faces shook hands with a room of green-eyed men. “His friends worked to establish business relationships with important figures within the Earth Kingdom, so that conflict would endanger Fire Nation merchants.”

Airbenders and waterbenders trained among Earth Kingdom armies, laughing as they traded blows. “Those Roku befriended during his Avatar training worked together to display unity amongst their armies.”

“You have powerful allies, Korra. Allies who can strike the White Lotus in ways impossible to you.”

Korra thought of Tenzin hiding at the Southern Air Temple and the Beifongs within metal cradle of Zaofu. She thought of cleaned out warehouses back in Republic City. She thought of her parents and frowned. Her parents had spent years undermining the White Lotus in their struggle against Unalaq, and it was not until Korra insisted they hide that they were captured.

“You told me before that my loved ones are the true source of my power. I always thought you meant they were just my inspiration. They are also the best help I could ever have to draw the White Lotus out. They have already allowed me to hurt them in ways I never could have otherwise.”

“Always remember your friends, Korra. No Avatar ever brought balance to the world alone.”

The world went white, and Korra woke in her sleeping roll.

###

“We must go our separate ways.”

Korra had heard Ghazan and Ming-Hua speaking during the night. Zaheer’s words were no surprise. “Thank you. Without your help, I would have lost much more than my parents to the White Lotus. When this is over, I’ll have to repay you somehow.”

“Have no worries, you will repay us soon enough,” Zaheer said. “Best of luck, Avatar Korra. We will contact you if necessary, and our brothers and sisters will continue to aide you from the shadows as best they can.”

The Avatar shook his hand. By mid-morning, she was alone. 

She spent the day in mediation, or making the effort at least. Every time she closed her eyes she pictured Asami, smiling in her workshop or in her office. She felt Bolin’s strong arms crushing her in a bear hug. Mako smiled awkwardly, but left no doubt to his loyalty. Tenzin’s children rushed forward to greet her, while he waited beside his wife to do the same.

“They will destroy you, the same as they destroyed so many others.”

Avatar Siyu’s cruel-faced apparition glared where it sat across from her. “Leave me alone,” Korra demanded.

“Make me. Show me your strength.” Siyu sneered mockingly.

Korra closed her eyes and waited for the chill prickling her skin to go away. It only grew worse. Siyu still sat across from her. “Your way didn’t work either. The Triads were worse than ever when I arrived in Republic City. The Southern Water Republic was a fractured mess. The Fire Nation was on the verge of upheaval. Everyone hated me because of you.”

“Fear of my power kept the world peaceful for sixty-eight years.”

“Fear of your power got you killed.”

Siyu shrugged. “Everyone dies. Even the Avatar. I did well in my time.”

“You destroyed the Avatar name worse than anyone ever has!” Korra’s fists clenched, her knuckles pale as the moon. “I hate you. If you had been stronger, if any of you had any real courage, none of this would have fallen on me. I realized how wrong this all was when I was a kid. How could you ignore the imbalance of the world your entire life?”

A contemptuous mask slipped over Siyu’s face. “You are pathetic and weak. That’s why. You speak of courage and strength when you have none. I refuse to sit by and watch any longer.”

Korra only just managed to roll out of the way of the wave of raised earth directed her way. Siyu was on her before she could stand, raining fire and water down on her. Steam watered her eyes. A blast of air sent her sprawling, and a pillar of earth knocked her into the air. Siyu’s hand grasped her ankle, but she managed to kick away with a weak burst of fire.

“Everything about you is weak,” Siyu taunted. “Even your mind.”

Korra snarled and attacked, but Siyu was too quick. He dodged her attacks like a leaf on the wind, allowing his instincts to blow him this way and that. When Korra closed the distance he created more. Where he could not avoid he easily dispersed.

“Damn you!” Korra snarled.

“You can no more damn me than you could any bender walking the street.”

Siyu caught a blast of fire like a ball, building it between his palms. A dozen small tendrils snapped out quick as whips. Korra dodged them one, two, three at a time. She tried to jump another, but it wrapped around her ankle. Another caught her wrist. Two more caught her waist and throat. Her skin burned and blackened where the fire tightened around her skin.

“Show me your strength!” Siyu demanded.

Korra shook her head. “No.”

The fire vanished, leaving her to fall roughly to the ground. “You will see. Nothing will make the world love you. Every story you’ve ever heard of the great Avatars will continue to be nothing more than stories. Fairy tales for the young and naïve. This world is too far gone, too lost in the wild to ever again deserve an Avatar like Aang or Yangchen. It deserves no mercy. The White Lotus tried to teach you this, but apparently you are too weak to understand. So go and learn for yourself. If you cannot, it is only a matter of time before your inability kills you and someone better can do the job for you.”

Siyu vanished, leaving his successor panting and shaken. There were no burn marks where the fire had taken hold, but Korra could still feel it burning. 

###

The name of the town she walked into escaped her. Korra was not sure she wanted to know. 

Her name was on every frightened set of lips. Lips that knew she was in the area. Lips gathered in small groups on every street, discussing what they should do, whether they should find her, whether they should demand she leave. Korra walked past them all with her head bowed, hoping no one recognized her. A hot day made her sweat, but she dared not remove the sweater obscuring her identity. 

The headlines on newspapers previewed scathing denouncements. Talking heads on televisions criticized her. Siyu’s words burned like an icy wind over her ears and the still crackling spots where his fire had grasped her. Korra marched forward faster.

A small girl sat alone beside a house, sniffling as she wiped away her tears and crying even more when they would not go away. Korra tried to walk away, but found herself kneeling beside the girl, smiling as comfortingly as she could manage. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

The girl looked up. Her best brave mask fell into place, but tears unraveled it within moments. “My mommy and daddy are missing. My uncle keeps telling me it’ll be okay, but I haven’t seen them for three whole weeks now.”

“I’m sorry.” Korra sat down. “What happened to them?”

“I don’t know. No one tells me nothing. Just that some bad men don’t like them.”

 _You have no time for such petty concerns_ , the whispers said. _Every moment you waste with this girl, the White Lotus spend inflicting pain on those you love._

Korra shook her head. “Why don’t you tell me everything you know, and we’ll talk to your uncle about it, okay?”

The little girl smiled tenuously, and nodded.


	23. Banished

“A letter?” Mako raised an eyebrow. “Who writes letters anymore?”

“You should come across many letters in your line of work,” Asami said. “It’s from Korra. You know how old-fashioned she is.”

“Yeah. I got one from her, too. That’s why I’m here.” Mako chuckled. “I can’t help but laugh whenever I talk to her on the phone. She always talks either too loud or to soft. Like she can’t figure out that speaking normally is okay.”

“Yeah. It’s adorable.”

Mako watched the corners of Asami’s mouth twitch, noticed the smile in her eyes and the bob of her throat where she swallowed a sob. All those minor gestures he’d been taught to watch for when questioning a suspect. It felt wrong to watch for those gestures with a friend, but old habits die hard, and he couldn’t deny hoping there was something more to squeeze from Asami than Korra’s letter to him had offered.

“Is she okay?” he asked.

Asami nodded.

“Any chance she shows up to this nonsense today?”

“I highly doubt it.” Asami smirked, a mischievous glint sparkling in her emerald eyes. “Though I’d love it if she did.”

The dead continuing to pile up on the blood-soaked battlefield of Zaofu, and the stories of how Korra’s ruthlessness had killed them, had inspired the citizens of Republic City to organize marches and protests demanding she be banned from the city. The largest protest yet was scheduled for that morning. Chief Beifong had assigned every halfway competent uniform under her employ to keep the peace. Mako had argued, but detective or not he was still one of those uniforms.

“This is ridiculous,” Asami said. “None of these people even bother to learn the truth.”

Mako shrugged. “Can you blame them?” He backed away when Asami stepped forward, his hands held up in surrender. “Hey, calm down! I’m not saying they’re right, but Korra’s never given Republic City any reason to trust her. She’s done better lately, but they still think she’s the same bloodthirsty murderer that destroys everything in sight. They don’t know her like we do.”

Asami shook her head. “Mako, for once could you just agree with me and let me vent without challenging every word?”

“Sorry.” He followed the engineer to a park bench and sat beside her.

“I hate when she goes off one her own like this,” Asami continued. “I hate the whole me against the world thing she insists on putting on herself. All she has to do is come back to Republic City and talk with us, talk with _me_ , and get to the bottom of whatever is bothering her. Wandering lost in the world while lost in her thoughts only makes it worse.”

“You don’t think she trusts you?”

“I would never think that.” Asami stared down at the folded paper in her hands. “I can’t help but wonder sometimes, though.”

Mako never thought too hard on it. Korra was Korra. Sometimes she tried to be a good friend. Most the time she was the Avatar. The Avatar trusted no one and confided nothing. Only Asami really knew Korra.

“She’d probably make things worse,” Asami said. “She never grasped the concept of subtlety. Shine a light into the shadows they’re hiding in and expose them. All these years teaching her how the rich and powerful wage war and she still tries to bludgeon them like she’s banging a dent out of a sheet of metal.”

“Yeah, she’d probably do that.”

Asami sighed and smiled politely at Mako, like he was a child offering naïve opinions she found sweet, but annoying. “Yeah. Thanks Mako. You should probably get going if you don’t want Beifong to chew you out. Maybe you could drop by later, and bring your letter?”

It was time, and clearly Mako had worn out his welcome with his friend, but he’d rather be anywhere but that rally. “Okay. See you later.”

The streets were already growing overcrowded, the masses blocking the way as they converged on City Hall. Angry commuters cursed at them, and defiant slogans answered. Homemade signs beat hoods and roofs. Mako broke up a handful of skirmishes as he walked, wondering where the rest of his colleagues were. A hot day made his suit stick uncomfortably. The press of bodies was like a spreading fire of steamy, shared air. Their voices buzzed throughout the square before City Hall like buzzard wasps. 

Mako found Chief Beifong there, regarding the crowd as if she were an exterminator figuring out how best to eliminate an infestation.

“You’re late, Detective.”

“Sorry, ma’am, I was-”

“Doing something other than what I told you. I don’t want to hear it. Take your place. You see anything suspicious or see any sign this crowd is getting too rowdy, you say something immediately. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mako saluted and hurried into position.

The angry shouts grew hotter and more vicious as the baking sun rose in the sky. Mako soon struggled to read the signs dancing above the crowd, their words lost in the haze steaming off the courtyard, the protestors a dancing mirage in an asphalt desert. He’d already memorized the angry words, even if hundreds weren’t chanting them. _Down with the Avatar. Justice for Zaofu. No more violence._

He wondered if any of the voices shouting those mantras had ever bothered to pay attention to the good Korra did. The night he met Korra, watching angrily as she to the ground alongside the tinkle of broken glass, the Triad had owned the city. His life had been a blur of broken bodies and broken streets. For a long time, Korra had made it worse. Then one day Mako woke up, went to work, sat at his desk, and realized his desk no longer creaked beneath a mountain of paperwork, and that he hadn’t seen a dead body for a few days. He realized that Chief Beifong’s scowl was more a habit than her current mood.

“Quite a scene, huh?” 

Mako turned to the voice. Shu smiled wearily up at him beneath her metalbender armor. “Yeah,” he said. “I bet that’s really hot.”

“Insufferably,” Shu groaned. Her grassy eyes seemed to wave in the shimmering heat. “But Beifong says so, so I do.” 

The chanting grew angrier when the doors to City Hall opened and a city representative exited. He hardly glanced towards the crowd as he hurried to the parking lot behind the building. 

“You know the Avatar, right? I’ve seen her come talk to you at the station sometimes. What’s she like?”

Mako frowned. “She’s better than this. I won’t pretend she hasn’t done some terrible things, but she’s had a rough life. Despite it, she’s a really good person. We would never have beaten back the Triad without her.”

“You sound like you like her,” Shu teased.

“No! No, not like, you know.”

“Relax, I’m kidding.” She stared at Mako expectantly.

Mako rubbed the back of his neck. “Alright, I used to. I mean, I’m a guy, and she’s beautiful. But I’m passed it. She has somebody, and I really like having her as a friend. Dating the Avatar is probably beyond my means, anyway.”

Shu laughed, and her eyes danced. Mako laughed, too. He didn’t realize they were staring at each other until the debris started flying.

The President stood atop the steps of City Hall, behind a barricade of riot shields splashed by fruit and trash. A rock clanged loudly off one, and the cops at the bottom of the stairs readied to move forward.

“Please be quiet!” an aide shouted through a megaphone. “The President has heard your voices! Please, we need quiet!”

Slowly, the roar of the crowd gentled to a murmur. “The President has heard your voices and has made a decision,” the aid continued. He cleared his throat and looked back to the President, his eyes accusing. “For many years, Avatar Korra has promised to change. She promised to protect Republic City rather than destroy it, and President Aiguo took her at her word. He only ever had the United Republic’s best interests in mind. He has a good heart and a trusting nature, and he gave the Avatar a chance to redeem herself. However, in light of her actions at Zaofu and the wishes of the people, he has decreed that as of this moment, Avatar Korra is banished from the United Republic!”

The crowd cheered. Mako hardly heard them. 

“President Aiguo also promises to reach out to the Four Nations and request they take similar measures. Avatar Korra has failed in her duties, and must be held accountable for her crimes!”

An explosion of support erupted from the protestors, deafening and cruel. “I can’t believe this,” Shu muttered.

Mako stormed away scowling.

###

The Sato Estate was quiet as a graveyard when he arrived that night. Three suitcases sat by the door. He found Asami packing a fourth in her bedroom.

“I wasn’t expecting you yet,” she said. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Been a while since I’ve seen you out of uniform. You look good.”

“Um, thanks.” Mako gestured to her half-packed luggage. “Hope you weren’t planning on leaving already. You did tell me to come by, after all.”

“No. I was going to wait. I can’t stay here, though, so don’t try to convince me. I refuse to stay in Republic City when they’re treating Korra like this.” Her fiery eyes snapped up. “Don’t you dare try to convince me to stay.”

“I’m not. I was actually hoping to convince you to leave. We need to do something before this attitude spreads everywhere. And…I can’t stay here either. I put in all my vacation time. That’s about three weeks. If I’m gone longer, well, too bad.”

“Lin was okay with that?”

Mako smirked. “Surprisingly so.”

Asami sniffled and sat heavily on her bed. Mako joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “So what’s our first step?” he asked. “Do you want to find Korra, see if we can bring her back and get her in a room with Aiguo?”

“No.” Asami reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “This is our first step.”

Mako unfolded it and read the list written upon it. Cabbage Corp, Foxwood Trading, and Ilannaq Automotives were among the dozen names. 

“I’ve been digging around my competitors’ dirty laundry lately. Every single one of those companies has ties to the White Lotus. I’m assuming that’s how they are funded. They use their political times to coerce and blackmail these companies into cooperation.”

“Did they ever try that with you?”

Asami’s pale knuckles turned white as a ghost’s, and her body trembled. “About two weeks before my father’s disappearance, three men met with him. I remember seeing them come and go, and Dad’s worry afterwards. I always wondered who was responsible for what happened. Knowing what I know now, there isn’t a doubt in my mind. They thought eliminating him and putting Future Industries in my hands would sink the company.”

“So why not go after you like they did your father?”

Asami smiled sadly. “Korra. By the time the White Lotus realized my company wouldn’t collapse, we were too close. She would have known immediately who was responsible, and they would have lost her forever. Those bastards still think they can win her back.”

They always do. Mako had seen it a thousands times over. Witnesses who recanted testimony, kids trying to go straight and failing, politicians entering offices with grand promises never fulfilled. The strings behind the scenes always assume they can hook the fish, and if not, simply gut it.

“I won’t let them win,” Asami said. “We can’t let them win.”

“We won’t.” Mako stood. “I don’t know how I can help, but I’m here for Korra. I’ll do whatever I can. We should go to Zaofu and get Bolin, too. Or at least tell him what’s happening.”

“I agree,” Asami said. “With Korra away, it’s up to us to let the world know who she is and what she’s done.”

And Mako knew just how to begin that process. “When were you planning on leaving?”

“Tonight. Why?”

“Don’t leave without me. I need to go back to the precinct and ask a favor.”

###

“You realize the risk I’m taking here, don’t you?” Chief Beifong asked. “Best case scenario, I spend however long I have in this job waiting like a paranoid nut job for my officers to do something that lets the bigwigs fire me. Worst case, they can me on the spot.”

“I know,” Mako said. “And I know you don’t like Korra. I get it. But you know the president is wrong.”

“And you know I’m too right-minded not to speak out against him. I won’t make my officers speak out as well. Only those who want to.”

“I don’t think there will be a shortage of uniforms willing to defend Korra. We’re the only ones who know the good she’s done.” Mako offered his hand. “It’s been a real pleasure, Chief. Here’s hoping we’re both employed the next time we see each other.”

Beifong shook his hand, grinning. “Here’s hoping, kid.”

Mako took his time exiting the station. He stopped to chat with the bullpen about their latest cases. He offered advice to the beat cops standing around the water cooler. He talked pro-bending with a group of metalbenders. An hour passed before he reached the parking lot. Shu stood by his car.

“I just wanted to let you know…” Shu blew out a nervous breath. “I’m glad you said what you said. Someone had to. And all the metalbenders are with you.”

“Thanks. Sorry if this brings heat down on you.”

The metalbender scoffed. “I’m not a politician, and I’m damn sure not the chief. Public opinion isn’t my concern.” She smiled at him. “So you’re gone, huh?”

Mako nodded. “For a while. Take care of yourself, alright?”

“You, too. Don’t you dare die on me.”

“Who, me? Come on, no one is taking me down.”  
Shu raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What about that time we met in the gym?”

“Well, that wasn’t serious. That was sparring.”

“The yuans on the line say otherwise.”

Mako crossed his arms. “Guess I have another reason to come back safe and sound.”

Shu smiled. “Yeah. Guess you do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I kind of ripping off the show here? I guess.


	24. A Beifong of You Yet

Bolin hurried to help a group of non-benders struggling with the weight of a dismembered mechanical leg. He hoped the cameras and microphones would hesitate to follow, but he should have known better when the mud didn’t stop them that morning. Their boots squelched right behind him every step of the way.

“Has the Avatar tried to contact Zaofu since her disappearance?” a round-faced woman asked. “Has she offered an apology?”

“I’m kind of busy here,” Bolin tried, exaggerating his heaving grunt as he helped lift the mech piece from the ground. “Can this wait?”

“How long will it take the city’s Agricultural District to recover? Will the land ever be suitable to plant crops again, or is the damage irreparable?”

All questions Bolin had no idea how to answer, and he wondered why they were asking him to begin with. Probably because no one else would talk to him. Suyin didn’t tell anyone anything she didn’t think they absolutely had to know, and she’d made it very clear that they were to take the same stance with reporters. Apparently the media thought Bolin was the dumb one to spill whatever they wanted to hear, because his only respite from their questions came when he shuffled back into the city at the end of the day.

“Look,” Bolin grunted. “I don’t know any of this, and I’m kind of busy, so can you at least wait until I’m not about to drop something this heavy before you hound me like a koala sheep that won’t go back in his pen?”

“One more question-”

“No more questions.” Opal’s voice snapped hard as a steel whip. “We’re trying to work here. You’ve been told that all your questions will be answered tonight. Until then, you need to let us work to restore our homes. Please leave.”

The reporter walked away, but not off the battlefield. Most likely she’d lay low and look for someone else she thought she could squeeze answers out of. “Thank you, Ms. Beifong,” the man to Bolin’s right said.

She smiled. “Thank you for helping, and for not being impatient with those lion vultures. I know it’s tempting to just tell them off.”

“Tempting, but not worth it. That’s what they want.”

The dismembered mech leg joined one of the many piles of scrap dotting the area like barrows. Bolin stretched, grimacing at the click in his shoulders and back that had bothered him for days now. Lift with your knees, lift with your back, it hurt either way. He could probably finagle a day off. A day in bed sounded wonderful. Sunk halfway into the mattress, never leaving, smiling at the sun, pretending that outside the crops were still growing and the fruit trees were bursting, filling the air with the smell of oranges. All Bolin had to do was say the word, and he could do just that.

Instead he turned, sighed, and began walking towards another piece of wreckage.

The reason why fell into step beside him, smiling and wrapping an arm around his waist. “Your back’s still hurting?”

“I’m fine,” Bolin said. “A sore back is nothing.”

“I’ll try to rub it for you later, okay? Or maybe you could take tomorrow off and go see the acupuncturist. I insist. I’ll even take the day off, too. I have a feeling neither of us will want to be out here after Mom talks to the reporters today.”

Opal had been against her mother’s planned question and answer session since the moment Suyin began to consider it. The Zaofu matriarch was nothing if not stubborn, however, and had dismissed every opposing thought to the idea. Bolin had stayed out of the discussion when at all possible, and given only neutral, diplomatic opinions when forced to speak on the matter. For one, he knew better than to involve himself in an argument between two Beifong women. Secondly, despite his years in the movie business and the press tours that were as much a part of the acting profession as actually filming, he was far from an expert on dealing with the media. A dozen headlines in a hundred gossip magazines sprang to mind, and he shuddered.

The ground cracked beneath the treads of a bulldozer. Bolin recognized the trio watching the pile of painted wood and assorted scrap pushed by the dozer’s blade to join the bigger piles. The two men were brothers, and the young woman was one of their daughters. They lived on the farm with the cows and the giant chicken coop, and always handed Bolin and Opal a carton when they walked the farms. He looked down where the dirt road used to pass beneath, and then to the stretch where the chickens had clucked and honked behind their wired homes. 

Now it was nothing but black rock everywhere. Ash still blew on the wind and the air still smelled hot and smoky. It would become fertile land again someday, but not anytime soon. Hundreds were now homeless, forced to watch their lives dozed away to join the wreck of tanks and mechs. So many had lost their lives to Ghazan’s lava. Bolin could hardly picture the man’s face without his blood boiling the same way the battlefield had that day.

“I don’t know why they’re blaming Korra,” he said. “She didn’t make that lava. She didn’t do this. It was Ghazan.”

“We know that,” Opal agreed, “but that’s not what most people saw. Most people saw Korra washing the lava down on both sides like it was the ocean. They remember her totally out of control.”

“It’s not fair. She tries her best. She’s not a bad person.”

Opal grabbed his hand and leaned into his shoulder, not knowing what to say. Bolin wasn’t sure, either. He knew Korra had been wrong. He also knew she was his friend, and that she completely regretted what she did. Korra’s letter still sat on the nightstand, begging for forgiveness. If only his forgiveness alone was enough.

###

“I understand, Bolin,” Suyin said. Her staff orbited her like moons, primping and straightening and applying makeup where necessary, always watching for the slightest gestures commanding them to stop. “I hold no grudge against the Avatar. Without her I likely would have lost my city twice over.”

An angry snort erupted from the far corner, where Kuvira stood glowering. Bolin ignored it. “Exactly! That’s why you should speak up in her defense.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“Mrs. Beifong, please-”

“Thank you. Bolin.”

The earthbender flinched at the steel in her voice. Even after all these years, his mother-in-law was still the most frightening person in his life. Well, second most frightening, but Bolin wasn’t nearly as worried about Korra as he was Suyin Beifong.

“Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright.” Suyin’s smile was soft and warm. “Run along, hon.”

It looked like a reporter from every paper and magazine and television show was waiting when Bolin took his seat between his wife and Huan behind Suyin’s podium. They stretched along the riverbank, an army of microphones and notepads barely less threatening than the Gao Ling forces had been days earlier. Some scratched away as they waited, writing preliminary notes. Or maybe they had already decided what they were going to report, and whatever questions they planned to ask were in hopes of juicy quotes to support that story. Bolin had learned that lesson the hard way during the press tour for _Earth, Wind, and Fiery Princesses._

Opal stilled his sweaty hands, smiling reassuringly. Her own nervousness carved lines across her face like a cleft through a mountain range. One day this would be her standing before the press answering questions, and it would be her piloting the Zaofu ship. It was always these moments where Bolin noticed his wife’s apprehension about that future, despite her desire to make it true.

Suyin strode to the podium with the grace of a master airbender and the imposing strength of the domes at her back. Her rich robes, as green as a forest, hung alluringly beneath the silver neckpiece around her throat. 

She cleared her throat to check the microphones. “Let us begin.”

The simultaneous roar of questions nearly knocked Bolin out of his chair. _Over here, Mrs. Beifong! Over here! How much longer will recovery efforts take? How long before crops can be planted again? Do you plan to retaliate against Gao Ling? Do you plan to retaliate against the Avatar? Do you hold her responsible? What of the citizens who lost their home, do they want Gao Ling and the Avatar to answer for their crimes?_

Suyin calmly pointed to one of the many voices, waited calmly for the others to fade, and answered. When she finished, the questions began again until she repeated the process. Over and over the voices swelled, faded, and swelled again, like waves rising and crashing onto shore. Bolin’s ears rang. Wei and Wing fidgeted to his left. Huan looked nearly asleep to his right. Opal sat upright and rigid, hands placed calmly in her lap. It was always in these moments that she most reminded Bolin of her mother. Of all the Beifong women he’d ever met, actually.

Slowly, the waves grew less powerful, until they lapped at the podium as sparsely as the trickle of the river along the banks. The questions took on the sharp focus of the blades Suyin practiced with sometimes, all about Korra and the response to her actions during the battle. Suyin’s patience grew thin as her swords, and her voice began to cut just as deep.

“The Avatar assisted my city,” she said. “If Republic City wishes to banish her, that is their right, just as it is the right of the other provinces of the Earth Empire and the leaders of the Four Nations.”

“If the rest of the world were to follow President Aiguo’s example, would Zaofu join them?”

“Not unless given a reason.”

“The destruction of your army and land isn’t reason enough? Do you feel some obligation to see the person responsible for this damage pay?”

“Gao Ling’s surviving troops and officers are being held in my custody, awaiting trial.”

“Surely you don’t believe the Avatar to be blameless?”

Suyin frowned. “Not blameless, but-”

“Then shouldn’t she also face the same penalties? Not just for this crime, but the many others she has committed? Do you agree with the Avatar being allowed freedom to slaughter whoever she wishes?”

Bolin stood angrily and shrugged away Opal’s hand on his arm. “That’s not fair!”

“Bolin, please sit down,” Suyin said, her annoyance barely restrained behind the steel dome which kept her composed.

“I’d like to say something,” the earthbender continued, blinking at the harsh flash of a hundred cameras. He stepped to the podium as Suyin backed away. His head felt like there was a rain cloud only above him. 

_Have you been in contact with the Avatar? Is she regretful? Does she plan to repent for her crimes? Where is she now?_ The questions came strong as ever, and Bolin regretted ever standing from his chair. Too late now. There was nothing to do but face the problem he’d created head on. 

“I’ve known Avatar Korra for a really long time. I knew her back when she was everything she’s accused of being. Bloodthirsty, violent, destructive, uncaring, unfeeling, and all that. That was a long time ago, now, and she has worked really hard to be a better person. I guess it isn’t clear to people who don’t see her as often as I do, but she’s changed so much. What happened here, that isn’t normal anymore. That’s not something she did callously. I mean, do you remember the First Battle of Zaofu? Korra didn’t run. She happily faced you all. She was proud of what happened then. You all don’t think about why she didn’t do the same this time?”

“None of us blame her for what happened. Without her we wouldn’t be here right now. She didn’t try to kill us. She didn’t fight against us. She didn’t create the lava that caused so much destruction. All she did was fight her heart out to protect her friends. That’s the kind of person Korra is, not this terrible monster you insist she must be.”

Opal’s soft arm weaved through Bolin’s. “Zaofu stands behind and supports Avatar Korra,” she said. “She has never given us reason not to. Gao Ling holds all the blame for the damage caused to our city, and Gao Ling will face the consequences for their actions. If the Avatar is watching, I want her to know that we love her. Please stay safe, and return when you are ready. You will always be welcome.”

Suyin stepped forward. “That will be all. Thank you for coming. If you have any further questions, you may submit them to the state office.”

The ground seemed to shake beneath Bolin as he joined the others in the long walk back to the tram station. An airship passed overhead, mercifully dulling the sun for a moment, but the heat returned double when it was gone.

“Very well done, you two,” Suyin said, smiling at him and Opal.

The only Beifong daughter smiled nervously, her round green eyes wide. “You’re not mad?”

“Not at all. You did very well. One day you will be the one standing at that podium like I have to, and you stepped up to that responsibility without hesitation.” Suyin turned her eyes to Bolin. “Though I never expected you would be following your husband! I hoped you would speak, Bolin, but I never expected it. We’ll make a Beifong of you yet.”

Bolin grinned and cockily threw an arm around Opal’s shoulders.

###

“You have a visitor, Mistress,” the aide said. “Shall I tell them you re preoccupied?”

Bolin rolled over the scrawny man like a boulder. He recognized that red scarf anywhere, though it had been years since he’d seen it worn. “Mako!”

His elder brother stood, grinning. Asami stood up beside him, her own smile glowing bright enough to light the room. Bolin picked both up in a crushing hug. “Alright, let us down!” Mako complained. 

How Bolin had missed his brother’s complaining. “It’s freaking great to see you two! I’m so happy it’s not even kicking in that I should probably be worried…” Bolin’s smile vanished. “Uh oh, what happened?”

“Nothing to make you frown,” Asami said soothingly. She moved in for another, softer, hug. “I saw what you said today. You, too, Opal. Your timing could not have been better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hopefully you’ll see for yourselves by tomorrow,” Mako said. “I hate to get right down to business, but we are here for more than a visit. Though I wouldn’t object to dinner by Suyin’s famous chef.”

“Of course!” Bolin slapped a meaty hand on his brother’s back. “My house is your house. Well, my wife’s mother’s house is probably okay with you staying to eat tonight. Right?”

Opal nodded. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Bolin.


	25. Cycle

“I’m sorry, Tenzin,” the Fire Lord said. “I truly am.”

“This is outrageous!” the master airbender boomed, his anger rushing through the room like a fierce gale. “For years, I have heard you complain of the White Lotus’s influence within your nation and throughout the world. How can you turn down a chance to eradicate it?”

Fire Lord Izumi eyes burned with cool fire, staring threateningly. Jinora knew enough about the woman to know she never did so emptily. “Remember where you are, my friend.”

Tenzin closed his eyes and waited for the flush to drain from his cheeks. “I simply cannot understand why you are refusing me. Please explain your decision.”

A bead of moisture rolled down the glass the Fire Lord sipped from. Everything seemed to sweat here. Jinora pulled at her robes for what must have been the tenth time since sitting down, glad that her father had agreed that they should wear their more stately robes instead of the tight wing suits. She was uncomfortable enough as it was.

“To put it bluntly, I have my doubts as to your ability to win,” Izumi said. “I have my doubts as to the Avatar’s commitment. I have my doubts as to your resources. I have my doubts as to the reward of the task. I have my doubts whether I would be forced to take the lead in lack of a capable leader. The risk is too great and the odds of success too low.” She smirked. “You know I’m not a gambler, Tenzin.”

“You have to gamble now or accept them for the rest of your life.” Tenzin pinched the bridge of his nose, and Jinora frowned. Her father was on the verge of losing what little negotiating skill he had to frustration. “The world suffered the tyranny of three Avatars waiting for one to rise against them. As we speak the White Lotus are certainly refining their methods to be sure the world suffers many more before another does the same. Korra is our chance. And I believe she is a worthy champion of this cause.”

The Fire Lord shrugged. “Until the next time she steps on a battlefield and slaughters an army, or destroys a building, killing everyone inside, or a bad day pushes her to brutally murder some poor soul that looked at her funny.”

“With all due respect, Fire Lord Izumi,” Jinora said, “you sound like someone who knows nothing about Korra.”

Not too long ago, she would have expected her father to glare at her while politely apologizing for her insolence. Even knowing otherwise, she couldn’t the visible tensing of her entire body, like a brisk wind had chilled the hot room. Instead Tenzin calmly watched and waited for her to continue.

“You’re right,” Izumi said. “I don’t know Korra. But neither does the rest of the world. I’m the opinion that most would have, and if I ally myself with the woman the world believes Korra to be, no one will excuse me if another Zaofu takes place. The White Lotus would seize on that moment to remove me from my throne.”

Tenzin had often told his daughter of the failed coup when he was a young man traveling the world with the other Air Nomads, and his cooperation with Izumi to defeat it. “Avatar Siyu and my father helped you retain control the last time the White Lotus attempted to depose you. Korra would do the same if you help her.”

“I’m sorry.” Izumi turned to Tenzin. “I paid the Air Nation back long ago. Your father seemed to have forgotten that part of the story.”

He hadn’t, but Jinora had chosen to. She began to speak again, but her father placed a large hand on her shoulder. “I regret that we could not reach an agreement today, Fire Lord. I hope our two nations can continue to cooperate on other matters in the future.”

Jinora stood and watched the Fire Lord shake his hand, then respectfully did the same. “It was an honor to meet you,” the younger airbender said. 

“The pleasure was mine,” Izumi said. “You’re father has taught you well. You both may stay in the rooms we’ve offered for as long as you wish, and you have the full use of the palace staff. Good luck. Know that I am watching and rooting for you.”

###

The gardens of the Fire Nation were the most beautiful place Jinora had ever seen. She sat cross-legged in the grass, watching the turtle ducks swim through the sky-blue ponds and the toucan puffins flitter across the sky. Foreign, fruity smells wafted along the gentle breeze, which cooled the swampy heat present throughout the palace. It was a perfect place to meditate, but she could hardly bear to close her eyes and flee such beauty. 

Few others inhabited the garden, and they all ignored the scenery or regarded it with a boredom only possible through familiarity. Jinora wanted to shout at them, but such boredom was natural. She could no longer claim the same wonder of the beauty of the Air Temples she had once felt. Perhaps the uninterested faces walking past had seen the gardens too many times to care any longer.

A hand brushed her shoulder moments after she closed her eyes, and soft footsteps scuttled away like the wind. Jinora opened her eyes to find a sealed envelope at her side. The garden had emptied as if a sudden gust had swept everyone away. She ripped the seal and pulled the letter from within.

_Meet me in the spa after dinner. Bring your father. Burn this letter immediately and make sure you’re not followed. If no one meets you within the hour, assume you were followed and no one will meet you._

Jinora tossed the paper into a torch flame and waited for the paper to turn to ashes.

Her father frowned when relayed the message. “I don’t like it. It could very well be a trick. If not by the White Lotus themselves, then by Izumi to convince their spies she plans no moves against them.”

“So you don’t think we should go?” Jinora asked.

Two raised voices passed by the closed door. Tenzin listened until they faded into silence. “If it was only me, I would. I have no wish to place you in any danger. However…” He sighed in defeat and reminder. “…you are an airbending Master, and a leader to our people. You deserve a say.”

Jinora smiled, her eyes growing wet. Years of such praise had yet to accustom her to it, and she hoped the words never lost their impact. Her father had never forgotten the burden of leading the airbenders. Neither should she.

“I think we should. I doubt the Fire Lord would try to imprison us now. She’s smarter than that. And if this is a White Lotus move, we can handle ourselves. I’m sure of it.”

She watched her father pout, sigh, close his eyes, pinch the bridge of his nose, mutter, and look back up. A routine she knew so well she nearly mimicked it.

“We will go. We will be cautious, but we will go.”

###

Jinora thought the Fire Nation to be quiet until she entered the palace spa. Then she realized how many whispers had vanished. 

Empty chairs sat beside counters covered in beautifying tools. It reminded her strangely of Asami’s workshop back in Republic City, how every pair of scissors and every file and every bottle of shampoo served a specific purpose somehow differing from the other tools just like it. A dull throb lanced through her feet at the sight of a footbath, as if they only just realized how much standing she had done that day.

The woman who emerged from an adjoining steam bath wore the same crimson robes as Fire Lord Izumi, and her eyes were the same golden amber matching the crown planted into the same dark curls. The face they were set in had the same sharp, gorgeous features, but lacked the lines of age and burden. 

Jinora bowed when her father did. “Princess Kazu,” he greeted. “You’ve grown.”

The princess bowed back. “Hello, Tenzin. Hello, Jinora. I’m glad you came.”

She led them back into the steam bath, pressed a brick beneath a bench, and led them into a small room behind the wall where a round, rough wooden table and four cushioned chairs awaited them. A pitcher of tea sat atop the table, and Kazu poured a cup for each of them. After the heat of the steam room, Jinora could hardly stomach a sip of the boiling drink. 

“I know this seems excessive, but it grows more difficult to be sure of privacy with every passing day.” Kazu sipped from her cup, her skin dry and cool despite the heat. “Please do not think ill of my mother. Her reluctance to commit our nation to your cause is not out of disregard or opposition. The Fire Nation has still yet to truly recover its reputation from its long years of aggression, and much like Fire Lord Zuko, she wishes nothing more than to change the perception that we are a warmongering people.”

“We do not ask-” Tenzin began.

“And it also makes things difficult when her son is a member of the White Lotus,” Kazu interrupted.

Jinora’s eyes widened, and she glanced over at her father. He stared ahead as if this was old news. “I understand. I am not asking her to go to war. I am simply asking her to use her political influence to support Avatar Korra. Fire Lord Izumi has long been the inspiration for all those world leaders who do not wish to rule under the White Lotus’s thumb.”

“She will, as carefully and cautiously as she can. She will not stand up in outright defiance.” 

“But she is willing to help somehow,” Jinora said. “Which is why you asked us to come here.”

Kazu nodded. “I am quite forgotten compared to my mother and brother, but I am still princess of the Fire Nation, the daughter of Fire Lord Izumi, and I have my own influences.” She turned her attention back to Tenzin. “As you said, my mother has been a symbol to those who fight against White Lotus influence. They have always been hesitant in their movements against her because of fear of the repercussions. She is loved by her people, and respected around the world. They would know what happened if she were killed. Against even the Avatar’s strength, the White Lotus worries of those repercussions. And Korra has never been the most compliant of allies, thankfully.”

“I am my mother’s daughter. I share her beliefs and her allies. I have stood in the room while she met with the rich and powerful. I have watched her lead our country and sustain its power. I have spent my life preparing to rule, to continue in her footsteps. Like the coup was for her, this is my opportunity to prove myself. Master Tenzin, I can assure you that the Fire Nation will support Avatar Korra in every way it can. As you told my mother, this is our chance. We will never see another.”

###

“I didn’t know Iroh was a member of the White Lotus,” Jinora said.

Below them, the ocean reflected the gray sky. The clouds seemed to swirl chaotically as they blew fast across the sky. Jinora shivered, though it was not cold. There was an unease to the world. An unease she had noticed more and more of.

It was happening even in the spirit world. She had once spent as much time as possible in the spirit world. Her parents told her she spent more time there as a child than she did in the real world. It had been a beautiful place where she had made many friends. The sky shone in beautiful bright colors and the feeling of pure life washed over her like the strong winds of a typhoon.

These days it felt more like a gentle ocean breeze, and the colors did not shine so bright. Friendly spirits turned dark and angry. Like the grey sky above, the beauty had been mottled, and an alien violence was growing stronger with every day. Jinora wondered if Korra had meditated recently and noticed these same things.

“He has been White Lotus for some time,” Tenzin said. “It has always been a cause of friction between Iroh and his family.”

“I always thought he was so nice,” Jinora said.

“He is. He is a very good man. Strong, courageous, always willing to stand up for those in need and things he believes to be right. Many in the White Lotus are the same. They are not all evil, Jinora. Many such as Iroh joined because of pressure. He is a general in the United Republic Forces, and a well-respected man of great influence. To stand against the White Lotus in his position would cost him the things he had worked his entire life for. So he joined, unaware of the true villainy of the organization. I doubt he ever learned just what they are capable of, or the crimes they have committed.”

The Western Air Temple jutted from the underside of the cliff like a row of teeth, the refurbished tips gleaming even in the shade of the grey day. Two air bison glided gently out to meet them. Meelo and Ikki waved exuberantly from their backs.

“You did well today, sweetheart,” Tenzin said. “I’m very proud of you. One day you will make for a wonderful leader of the Air Nation.”

Jinora smiled tremulously, but with a growing pride in her heart. She thought of the meeting with Princess Kazu. _I have spent my life preparing to rule, to continue in her footsteps._ Jinora’s father was still a spry man, but he was growing older, wearier. He delegated to subordinates more often than ever. She could see his desire for others to assume leadership, even if he’d yet to recognize it himself. Tenzin had been of an age with his daughter when the Fire Nation coup took place, and he fought alongside the young Fire Lord Izumi and taken his place at the head of the airbenders. Now history had cycled around, as it often did, to place Princess Kazu and Jinora in a similar place.

 _This is my opportunity to prove myself._ Jinora would do the same. She would let the winds of fate carry her where they had always planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I should clarify how I'm imagining the Fire Nation in this modern AU, since they seem the same as in the show hundreds of years earlier. They still have the royal family, but I also imagine they have a Parliament of some kind to represent the people and help make decisions. So it's not the full on monarchy of ATLA or LoK.


	26. Dirty Alleys

“Bolin,” Asami whispered. “Bolin!”

The muscular earthbender shook to attention. “Huh?”

“You going to give me a boost some time tonight or would you rather wait until morning?”

Bolin’s blush brightened the darkness. Bringing him instead of Mako proved more the correct decision with every step. Not that Asami disliked Mako, but he had all the combative nature of Korra without any of the chemistry. Right now they’d probably be embroiled in an argument over who would boost through into the air vent above. Bolin obediently knelt, his hands cupped and waiting. 

Asami planted a foot where his fingers joined, screwdriver in hand, and began unscrewing the bolts holding the vent cover in place when her body lifted. The screws fit well, the steel hardly making a sound as it scraped loose. Bolin took the cover and placed it gently on the ground before boosting Asami into vents. 

“Good luck!” he whispered far too loudly. Asami couldn’t help but smile. He may be a bull in a fine dinnerware shop, but she was his bull.

Of course, if she had had her pick of unsubtle companions to help her break into Ilannaq Automotives, she’d have gone with Korra. Crawling through the vents brought back memories of Cabbage Corp and cold nights. The steel had been icier than the cold blue of Korra’s eyes, but nervous sweat had dripped warmly from her forehead. When she had found the information she sought, Korra had burst a window and set off an alarm, yet they had laughed all the way back to the estate.

Korra was gone, though, wandering the world alone doing spirits knew what. All Asami could do is hope she was taking care of herself and focus on the task at hand.

A right turn, a climb, and a kick later, and she dropped into the main office. She unlocked the dead bolt on the door and turned around. Sheets of paper poked sloppily out of files. Unlocked cabinet drawers lay partly open. A ring of keys hung from a hook beside the door to unlock others. If Asami thought Ilannaq had any corporate secrets worth stealing, she might have thought this too easy. Instead she searched the paintings hanging from the walls and the rows of bookshelves and cabinets until she found the hidden safe.

It popped open alongside the door. “Asami?” Bolin whispered.

She waved one hand while the other navigated the contents of the safe. Stacked, banded slips of yuans and small chests of coins from the Fire Nation, Earth Empire, and Water Republics sat atop piles of paperwork. A pistol and two magazines sat alone on a shelf. Asami pushed everything aside until she found what she was looking for. She folded the sheets of paper twice and tucked them inside her jacket. 

“Did you find what you wanted?” Bolin asked.

“Yes.” Asami closed the safe and considered breaking a window in celebration.

###

Mako was already back at the hotel the next morning. He waited beside the entrance, cloaked in the receding shadows fleeing before the light of the rising sun. His frown should have struck a spark of fear in Asami’s mind, but she had learned long ago that Mako not frowning was more of a reason to worry.

No one paid them any mind as they entered the lobby and entered the stairway. A janitor passed them as they ascended to the third floor, where their rooms were located, but Asami hardly spared him a glance. Now that the task was done, it didn’t matter what the White Lotus might know. She only need keep herself safe long enough to leak what she knew to the proper sources. 

Breakfast passed happily and without a word about their separate tasks. Bolin pushed Mako to tell them all about Shu, and Asami joined in until the firebender was red-faced, stuttering, and shouting angrily at them to stop. Yet every word out of Mako regarding the metalbender was spoken happily, in a tone Asami had rarely heard from the older and shyer of the two brothers. It made her happy. Judging by Bolin’s giddy expression, he felt the same way.

Once breakfast had ended, they took the stairs back down, left the hotel, and walked over to the parking garage beside the street. The engine of Asami’s Satomobile purred when she turned the key, but an incongruous stutter caught her attention as Mako pulled a series of photos from his coat. She would have to check beneath the hood later.

“It’s nothing as outrageous as the others,” her detective friend said when he handed them over. “It is enough to use, though.”

Asami grinned as she flipped through. Mako was right, it wasn’t as outrageous as catching Cabbage Corp’s CFO paying the Triad, or Nobuo’s wife wincing as tears slipped between her swollen eyes. They didn’t need enough to ruin these people’s lives. Though it certainly didn’t hurt.

“Is it really so hard to own a business and just be a good person?” Bolin asked.

“It can be, especially when you’re trying to catch up to someone better.” Asami thought back to how Korra had put it one time. “It’s like you and everyone like you is racing up an icy cliff. It’s really easy to slip, and whoever has the best climbing gear is going to win. So if you don’t have the best climbing gear, you do whatever you can to make up for it. Once you start, though, it’s really hard to stop, and the ice is going to soak through your clothes all the same.”

Bolin’s mouth twisted, and he shrugged. “I don’t get it.”

“The business world is like those dirty alleys we use to sleep in,” Mako said. “You can’t help but end up filthy yourself.”

“Now that, I can understand.”

A crude way of putting it, but Asami couldn’t disagree. She wasn’t squeaky clean herself. When she took control of her father’s company, holding off the vultures had driven her into the trash or down the icy cliff or whatever analogy someone wanted to use. Somehow she had clawed her way back up and avoided ever falling again. As she looked at the photos of Ilannaq and two men who were not her husband, she thanked Korra and her friends for helping to keep her upright.

Once the photos were delivered, Mako and Bolin took the car to grab some takeout while Asami walked back to the hotel to look over the information taken from the safe. Lists of numbers and names hinted towards the same names and truths as the others. One new name made her frown. The White Lotus ran deep. She’d always known, but never to this extent.

She thought back to the day the men came to talk to her father. Dad had been miserable for weeks. Too many nights passed with her and Mom sitting quiet and alone while he was locked away in an office, either home or in the city. Asami’s usual place at her father’s side had been denied her, and whenever she asked he would tell her, “it’s temporary. I’m playing things close to the vest right now.”

Playing things close to the vest had always been a Sato family tradition. One Asami continued to this day with her friends and loved ones, and one she too often failed to break.

It had been about a week before when things returned to normal. Dad found time for the family, took Mom on a couple dates, and let Asami back in the room with him during meetings. His jovial attitude returned. She had never thought about what he had done during those few weeks that needed to be played close to the vests. Business was business, and business was sometimes ugly. She’d been well aware of the sleazier side of Future Industries.

Now she wondered what promises her father may have broken to incur the White Lotus’s wrath.

“I hope Opal never asks me to get involved in this kind of stuff,” Bolin muttered. “I don’t think I’m made for it, and politics is probably way worse than business.”

“They’re actually not very different,” Asami said.

“And lucky for you, Opal is way too smart to let your stupid ass get involved in her politics,” Mako teased.

Bolin nodded, then his face flushed as red as Asami’s lipstick. “Hey! I could help! I gave that speech, you both thought that was good.”

“Yeah, you’d be a pretty good trophy husband,” Mako said.

Asami slapped him lightly on the arm. “You have a smart woman, Bolin. Smart enough to realize how much help you could be.”

The earthbender blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I do what I can.”

Mako slapped his brother on the back, which quickly devolved into friendly wrestling that had both breathing heavy and Asami laughing. 

She woke reluctantly the next morning, and reached an arm over to curl Korra closer. Memory of where she was came before her palm hit the cool sheets, but the chill saddened her anyway. Miles and time apart were nothing new between her and Korra. This time there was an uncertainty to their separation that made Asami shiver when she woke alone. So much would change, even if they succeeded. Who would they be when they carved their place out in this new world? Would their minds change?

Anxious, excited knocking scared away the last remnants of sleep fogging Asami’s mind. She threw a robe over her nightgown and found a practically quaking Bolin holding the morning’s paper, having not even bothered to throw a pair of pants on over his boxers. “Check it out!”

The preferred of the photographs they’d sent to the local paper was plastered across the front page, with a crude headline. Asami grimaced. “That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, but it made the papers. That’s what we wanted, right?”

The engineer nodded. “Yes, it is.” She turned around and reached for the marked up paperwork on the bedside dresser. “Ilannaq’s records were as expected. A couple new names and companies, but I think we can assume them relatively unimportant. The negative headlines will have the VIPs anxious. They’ll want to meet soon. When they do, we’ll be there. Until then, we’ll keep digging and finding out what we can.”

Mako shuffled over from down the room next door, his hair spiking in half a dozen directions. “What’s going on? Why are we up so early?”

“It’s game time, bro!” Bolin yelled.

###

The property was ordinary in every way. Indigenous plants grew within sloppily maintained gardens. Grass in need of mowing but not tall enough to be worth notice grew in the front yard. Neatly painted beige walls were in need of a touch-up. Even the cars parked in the driveway and lining the street were nice, but nothing worth paying attention to.

No one would ever think that a gathering of people belonging to the most powerful organization in the world were meeting within those walls.

“You sure the three of us are enough?” Mako asked, ever the skeptic.

“None of them are benders.” Asami’s eyes narrowed, studying the lime stains on the windows and the scuffed wood on the front door. “Chao Xiang has some combat training. I’m sure most of them have taken self-defense. We should be careful, but I highly doubt we have anything to fear.”

“I don’t know…” Bolin’s tapping heel sent a subtle surge through the ground beneath him. He pulled anxiously at the covering over his head.

“Guys, when have I ever not been fully prepared?” Asami asked. “You two know me too well to think I’d ever put you in unnecessary danger because I wasn’t prepared.”

“You’re right.” Bolin nearly leapt to his feet, reminding her of the airbender children. “Let’s do it.”

An unlocked door sat on squeaky hinges within the garage. Habit drew Asami’s hand towards her belt like a metal to a magnet, but there was no can of lubricating oil there. Calm voices engaged in civil discussion within the house. Those voices cut off when Asami whistled, and roared in panic when the doors busted open.

She pushed her own door open, wincing as it collided with someone on the other side. A small, smooth fist aimed lazily in her direction was easily tossed aside, the arm it belonged to used to take its owner down. Through the entryway ahead, a circle of rocks ensnared two men and a woman. Another woman crawled backwards to escape a blast of flame. A touch of Asami’s electric glove immobilized the woman at her feet, and she moved forward to do the same to the others.

###

Bubbly spit splattered off the concrete near Asami’s boot, tinged red by the blood on the man’s lips. “Thank you for your cooperation, Chao,” she said sweetly. She only smiled all the wider when the chair creaked with Chao’s attempts to break free. 

She exited the basement and found Mako and Bolin atop the stairs. “Well?” Mako asked.

Asami slid heavily down the wall, her hands shaking like they always did after too many hours hunched over her desk drawing designs or signing her name to an endless blur of papers. A spot of crimson marred the back of her hand near her middle knuckle. She wet her sleeve and rubbed it away. 

“Are you okay?” Bolin asked.

“Yes. Just tired.”

“They’re not going anywhere tonight, and we’ve already gotten a lot out of the ones we questioned.” Mako stared concernedly down at her, the protector in him having taken over. For once, it was exactly what she needed. “Go rest. We’ll stand watch.”

The walk to the bedroom was like burning ice on her calves, numbing the muscles more with every step. The twist of the knob sent twisting pain through her shoulders. Even sitting on the edge of the bed and removing her boots nearly paralyzed her with pain. She could only manage her jacket off before collapsing onto the bed in her dirty pants and sweat-stained shirt. 

_Gross, Sami_. She was smiling at the imagined admonishment when she glimpsed the envelope beside the bed, and the handwriting on it. The stiffness fled her fingers when she ripped it open and pulled the letter out.

_Hey, Sami. I heard on the news that you’re not in town, so hopefully someone can find you and give this to you. If not, it will be waiting for you when you get home. Hope everything’s okay._

_I’m doing okay. Right now I’m in the Southern Water Republic. You’d think it’s freezing here, but I love it. All those years away didn’t kill my love for the cold. I guess it’s in my blood. My frozen, shivering blood. I’m doing good. I’m behaving. Things have actually been pretty good. No one is bothering me. I’m helping people out. I feel pretty good._

_It seems like you’re doing good, too. I’m hearing a lot about some of those companies you always complain about. All these scandals on the news have a lot of people freaking out. Future Industries isn’t going to be next, is it? As good as I feel, seeing video of you buying drugs or taking bribes would bring me down pretty quick. Is it you doing this? If so, I’m sure you have your reasons._

_You know I miss you. I hope you’re missing me, too. I promise I’ll be back, but I still can’t be sure when. I just…I don’t know. It might feel like I’m running, but I promise I’m not. I haven’t given up. I’m just trying something different._

_Stay safe, Sami. I love you._

_Korra_

Asami put the letter aside, burrowed her face into a pillow, and fell asleep smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sneak peek: Korra's back next chapter.


	27. Found

Korra pushed and pulled the water just how she’d been taught all those years ago, when her father first discovered his little girl was a bender, packed her up in her giant coat and fuzzy gloves and new, expensive boots, and brought her down to the coast to give her first lesson. Back and forth, move the wrists, feel the flow. They’d spent the morning practicing and the evening fishing. When they walked through the door that night, covered head to toe in melting ice that dripped off them to soak the rug, Mom had smacked Dad upside the head, making Korra giggle.

It was two weeks later when she bended fire for the first time. The White Lotus took her a month later.

Every push and pull sent the flood waters back out to see. There were four other benders near the water to make sure the water pushed out to sea did not return, but they were not needed. This was the first technique Korra had ever learned and the first she mastered. As the town emerged from its drowned grave, she began to get a sense of the damage done. Waterlogged walls on the verge of collapse. Windows blasted out. Cars that would never run again. She shuddered to think how much worse the damage would be if she hadn’t been here.

It was pure luck that she found the town at all. The storm had forced her to seek shelter higher up, and the flooding had redirected her path when she set off afterwards. Dozens had stood atop a snowy hill, staring down at what remained of their homes. Korra didn’t say a word before sliding down and beginning to push the waters back out to sea. Half an hour had passed before anyone moved to help.

Things went quicker as the moon rose pale and full in the sky. A wall of ice kept the waters at bay when the last of it had been pushed from the streets. Dozens of fires burned on the snowy mounds overlooking the area when Korra climbed up with the other firebenders. Shivering silhouettes stood to greet them.

“Thank you, Avatar Korra,” a shriveled, bearded man said. Despite his physical frailty, his voice was strong as the rolling waves. 

“I’m happy to help,” she said. “That was a bad storm. Don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.”

The old man nodded. “I’ve seen some terrible storms in my life, but that certainly ranked among the worst. We would have spent days uncovering our homes if not for you.”

“I thought the Avatar was mean,” a damp-haired girl said, her plump lips twisted into a pout. Snow still melted in the tangles atop her head. “Mom and Dad always told me she was, that every Avatar was.”

“Tikaani!” a woman hissed. Korra noticed she didn’t correct the girl.

“It’s okay,” the Avatar said. “I understand. I used to be mean.” She grinned down at the girl. “You get called a jerk enough and you’ll eventually want to change.”

The girl, Tikaani, stared up at Korra with her eyes narrowed and her bottom lip thrust out like a tongue. 

“Whatever your reputation, we can only judge you on your actions today,” the old man said. “We have little, but we can offer you a meal and a bed tonight, if you wish.”

“That’s okay.” Korra looked up, watching the stars burn through the receding clouds. “I appreciate the offer, but I wasn’t planning on stopping tonight. No offense.”

“None taken. We all wish you the best of luck, Avatar.”

Korra left the village warmed by the kiss of burning campfires and sincere gratitude upon her skin. She could only think to smile sheepishly and wave as the cold moved back in. Asami’s voice teased her memory, making her smile, trying as ever to be the brightest star burning in the dark.

###

_“No! Wait, Avatar, don’t!”_

_The desperate pleas of the ignorant and weak went unheard, mindless noise drowned beneath the flowing adrenaline in Korra’s ears and the demanding whispers within her mind. Something else tried to fight through as well._

_It all went ignored, and the Avatar began her work. The ocean swelled high, a blue, cold hill casting a cold shadow across the frozen bundles of buildings below. The trio of ships rocked violently atop it. Panicked faces pale as snow stared over the edge, their lying lips flapping like their sails within the Avatar’s gales. Perhaps they would have stood a chance if they’d come in ships more modern._

_“Please don’t, Avatar!”_

_Screams filled the air as the great wave crashed onshore, filling her senses with the pleasantries of salt and fear. Her eyes sparked with a bright white blaze, and the waves flowed around her when they descended to splash with the sound of thunder, shaking the ground with the fury of a bomb. Wood cracked and splintered away. Concrete and glass smashed. Street lights toppled. Frightened fools huddled close behind her._

_The ships broke apart like colliding glaciers. The raiders within them fared little better. One toppled over the railing and fell with a thud atop a roof. Five were swallowed within the waters when their boat upended. Two jumped from their vessel into the bare branches off a stubborn cedar tree standing strong. Korra made note where each fell._

_“You’ll kill them!”_

_That was the idea. The Avatar snarled as the strain of diverting the onrushing waters burned in her shoulders and calves. A second boat cracked against the sharp corner of a roof and broke apart, leaving those aboard to the ruthlessness of the waves. Three dropped guns as they submerged. Two men and a woman, young innocents, captives, joined them as the screams joined the satisfied whispers._

_“No!”_

_The final of the raiding party’s boats smashed into splinters along the side of a building. Korra never witnessed the fate of those aboard, their flailing limbs lost among shattered glass and shattered wood bobbing in and out of the water. The last of the waves smoothed and evened out, and she let go, allowing them to settle around her knees. Her sore legs quaked with cold and effort._

_Other, fresher legs sloshed forward to search the wreckage. Panic scratched their throats as they called names. The Avatar did not listen. She made off towards the roof where she’d seen the raider fall._

_He still struggled atop the concrete, his wet clothes squelching as he rolled and crawled around, his face. “Please,” he croaked. “Don’t…”_

_His gasps cut short as the Avatar pulled the air from his lungs._

_The others did not require such an intimate touch. They lay broken and twisted where the waves had dropped them, smashed apart like the boats they’d attempted to escape with. One was impaled on a thick branch broken off from its tree. Another hung from a window, the glass somehow intact everywhere except where his head had smashed through and flowing red where his blood leaked down. When Korra approached, it finally gave way and sent the raider falling to the street below._

_She did not waste time sticking around once she’d made a full account of the raiders and burned their bodies. By then, the others had found their loved ones among the wreckage. Some had lived, limping and whimpering as they were helped along. Most had not. It wasn’t her problem. The raiders were the threat. A threat reduced to ashes. **It is the Avatar’s duty to eliminate the wicked of the world at any cost. The Avatar must never show mercy.**_

_A brick missed Korra’s head by inches, its weak breath kissing her cheek. The boy responsible reached for another. “Monster!”_

_Others muttered the word behind her. They dared not toss anything. A hard glare sent the second brick to the ground._

###

Korra was happy to fall into bed when she arrived in the Southern Water Republic’s capital. Morning light glared through the closed blinds, lighting the room, but it did nothing to dissuade her drooping eyes.

When she woke, the sun was no longer prying into the room, but the day was bright. She turned on the television and grimaced when she saw the news. Her thumb was halfway to changing the channel when the headline caught her eye. Above, video played of a fire ravaging a forest, and a figure in Water Tribe blued dispersing the flames before they could reach nearby suburbs. Korra didn’t remember any cameras. She’d hardly paid attention.

Snippets of interviews ran as well. It used to be such interviews were filled with teary eyes and hating frowns, without a single positive word among the hatred hissing between clenched teeth. The praise Korra heard now had her cheeks burning as hot as the memory of those fires. It was working. Slowly but surely, it was working.

When she left the hotel that afternoon, her stomach was rumbling like the loud engines in Asami’s transport trucks, but her search for food was interrupted by a variety of well-wishers stopping her on the sidewalk. They smiled and shook her hand and heaped praise on her. They whispered and pointed and followed her. Two pudgy little girls pushed through the crowd to ask for autographs. 

_Just smile and be polite._ Asami’s words whispered clearly in her ears. _And for spirit’s sake, be yourself. You’re fun. You’re funny. You’re charismatic. Be yourself and they’ll love you._

It wasn’t getting easier, no matter how much practice she accumulated. With every city or town she came across, she felt just as awkward and uncomfortable as she did the first time Asami dressed her up and made her play nice with the socialites. She probably never would. She was used to anger and scorn. Alienation was easier.

If nothing else, alienation gave her peace. Even when she sat down at a restaurant with her bowl of noodles, people insisted on talking with her. Her mouth was half full, the noodles clinging to her chin, when a teenage boy and girl sat down across from her. “Wow, you’re the Avatar!”

Korra slurped up her noodles and nodded.

“Wow! I knew it!” The girl took Korra’s hand and shook it, then elbowed the boy to force him to do the same. “I’m sorry, I know I’m interrupting, but you’re the best. Everyone always told me how the Avatar was really evil and ruthless, but you’re not like that at all.” 

Korra swallowed.

“So, we’re definitely going to go see that movie about you when it comes out. Whenever that is. I have no clue at all.” The girl turned to the boy, who stared slack-jawed at Korra. “When is that movie coming out?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A month or two?”

“Wait, what movie?” Korra asked.

“You haven’t seen?” The girl leaped to her feet. “Varrick Inc. is making a movie about you! It’s going to be awesome! Bolin Beifong is in it!”

That brought an inescapable grin to Korra’s face. She could only imagine what that kook had dreamed up, and she was sure Bolin played a big part in it, which meant he probably insisted on writing some of the movie.

The man at the counter called out the names Aklaq and Ila, and the boy went to retrieve two bowls of stewed sea prunes.

“Ila? My mother had a friend named Ila. I don’t know what ever happened to her. It’s been a long time.”

The girl smiled wide. “I love my name. It’s unique since it doesn’t have that harsh ‘K’ sound anywhere in it. Poor Aklaq here has it twice.”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Aklaq said. He smirked proudly. “It means ‘dark, vicious bear.’ It was my great-grandfather’s name. He was a famous hunter.”

“I think they named you that because they knew you’d be shaggy as a bear by sixteen,” Korra teased. Even her father never managed to grow a beard like the one swallowing half the teen boy’s face.

Ila broke out in squealing laughter, unabated even when Aklaq snatched a prune from his bowl and pelted her on the forehead. _Be yourself. They’ll love you._

###

Korra took her time walking the cold streets, savoring the chill that sent even these people running, residents of the Water Republic who lived in it every day. The warmth of the hotel was a shock that moistened her skin immediately. She waved at the receptionist manning the desk and took the stairs, as she liked to do. 

The sprint to her room to answer the phone ringing within, combined with the climb up the warm staircase, snatched her breath away. “Hello?”

“Korra? Is that you?”

She stood straight up, cheeks burning. “Asami? How do you-?”

“You’re all over the news. The Southern Water Republic is ‘overjoyed” to have the Avatar visit.”

Of course. The clicking cameras had been nonstop since she arrived. They’d been present in the small towns along the coast as well, but news traveled much faster in the capital. It had been stupid to think she could hide forever. That she managed this long was a success.

“Korra? You there?”

“Yeah! Yeah, of course. It’s great to hear from you. Have you been getting my letters?” She trusted the people she gave the letters to, but it was still a risk.

“Sealed and seemingly untouched. Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem.”

“So,” Asami began nervously, “How have you been?”

They talked for hours that passed like minutes. Korra laughed more than she had in months. It felt good. It felt great. Asami told her about the movie Varrick was making, and Korra talked about the towns she had helped. They talked about Asami’s role in the many scandals striking her competition. They talked about the weather. They talked about Mako’s new girlfriend, each compiling the best teases they could come up with. When they ran out of things to talk about, they began teasing each other.

A pause, and Korra began to wonder why Asami reached out to her now. While difficult, it would have not have been impossible to do so earlier. Asami was one of the most powerful people in the world. The unquestioned joy drained from Korra’s cheeks, leaving her feeling cold.

“There has to be a reason you called me, Sami. You could have found me whenever you wanted. I’m assuming there’s a reason you chose to now.”

Asami sighed, and Korra bit her lip, imagining the terrible news ahead of time. Something had happened to Tenzin. Something had happened to her company. Zaofu was in trouble. The Red Lotus had been captured. The silence stretched as long as those lonely nights spent staring at the stars after the White Lotus took her, wondering what else could possibly go wrong and what she could do about it.

“I think I found your parents, Korra. And we’re going to go get them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're entering the endgame. It's showtime, folks.


	28. Rescue

By the time Asami finished talking, Korra was ready to grab hold of her and never let go. She was ready to promise Mako anything. She was ready to buy a thousand tickets to Bolin’s next movie. She settled for hugs, and silently vowed to never stop making it up to her friends. 

“I still think I should go with you,” Bolin pouted. “I know I’m not as smart as Asami and I don’t fight as often as Mako, but I could still help. Watching you all go off without me sucks.”

“You have a wife waiting for you. And making Varrick’s movie will help Korra just as much as we are,” Asami said. “You’re a movie star, Bolin, you know how much image matters. Nothing helps Korra more than getting the people on her side, and you’re going to do just that.”

“It’s going to be good, too.” Bolin grinned at Korra, that innocent, infinitely loyal grin that Korra would never take for granted. “I think it’s the best movie I’ve ever been involved in. Varrick shelled out for real writers and handed directorial control to Michiko.”

“Sounds good, buddy,” Korra said. “I’m gonna miss you.”

She hugged him again, and answered his slap on her back with one of her own. Soon they were smacking and punching each other’s biceps and laughing wildly. It was hard to watch him go. She almost begged him to stay.

The airship ran smooth and quiet, but Korra could not ease the raging tempest ravaging her attempts at peace, drowning them beneath high waters like the town she’d just saved. Change of location was no help. There was always the clang of boots in a hallway, the squeak of a door opening, the whisper of voices inside and out of her head. 

Outside, the wind swept aside her hair like long, beautiful fingers massaging her scalp when Asami sat beside her. Korra’s eyes were closed, but she recognized the smell of citrus shampoo and leather, and the soft whistle of breath through scarlet lips. Neither spoke until the Avatar cracked an eyelid open. 

“Do you mind?” she teased.

The raven-haired beauty blushed a scarlet as rich as her lipstick. “I thought you were meditating.”

“You don’t think it’s kind of weird to watch me meditate? Do you do this a lot?”

“Sometimes.” Asami scooted closer. “It’s the only time I ever see you completely relaxed. There’s this crinkle in your forehead, right here, that only goes away when you meditate. It’s even there when you sleep.”

Korra bumped her forehead against Asami’s pointing finger. “So how much longer until we get there?”

“Soon. Maybe two more hours.”

Another attempt at meditation would have been pointless. Korra stood and offered her hand down to pull her girlfriend up as well. “Guess we better go over things one more time, huh?”

“Good idea.” Asami did not move to follow back inside. “Korra?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. You’re amazing.”

Korra grinned and punched her lightly on the arm. “I love you, too.”

###

The first time Korra used her glider was among the most intimidating things she’d ever experienced. She’d begged Tenzin for weeks. When begging didn’t work, she shouted and threatened. Eventually the airbending master relented, and brought her to the top of Avatar Aang’s Memorial Statue. 

Flying had quickly become Korra’s preferred hobby in those days, but as she looked over the railing of the airship, the same fear she’d felt atop Aang’s statue had reassumed its place in her gut, heavy as a rock and making her body tremble. Only this time, instead of Tenzin’s resentful disdain, Asami smiled at her side.

“We’ll see you down there,” she said. “Don’t hesitate to make our job easier by clearing the ground before we get there.”

Korra grinned, opened her glider, jumped atop the railing, and fell.

The wind rushed up to meet her, slamming into her skin like a wall. Dozens of trees spiked from the ground, ready to run her through. If they failed, the hard ground beneath was more than willing to do the job. _Master the air itself._ Tenzin’s voice was deep, calm, instructive. _It surrounds you at all times, ready to be manipulated to your advantage. In order to truly master your glider, you must become one with the power surrounding you._

The day she jumped from Aang’s statue, she’d been cocky. She’d assumed using a glider to be no different from bending air on the ground. Not until she was spinning wildly out of control did she realize what true mastery meant. Aggression sent her flailing. Power nearly ripped the glider from her hands. Tenzin’s instruction was swallowed in the wind rushing into her ears.

She blew a puff of air into the fabric above her head, slowing her as the tops of the trees and the exercise yard of the prison came rushing towards her. Slight manipulations adjusted her direction to the left or right to avoid the trees. Fingers began to point and voices began to shout atop guard towers. Two pairs of eyes went wide, but their owners were too slow to avoid Korra as she kicked them into the railing.

She jumped the railing to the empty prison yard, her eyes aglow and her teeth bared as others aimed their guns down from other towers and backup poured out of the surrounding buildings. The radio at her hip flew into her hands. “You guys might want to wait up there. Looks like they were expecting me.”

“That’s stupid, Korra,” Mako answered. “If they’re expecting you, you’ll need us even more.”

“Stay up there,” she said, more insistently this time. “I’ll handle it.”

She rushed towards the cover of a tower, grunted, and ripped up the ground beneath it. Brick crumbled apart as the structure collapsed.

“We’ll wait for your okay, Korra,” Asami said. “Be safe, and don’t take too long.”

Buckshot embedded in brick and pinged off railing as the guards on the ground opened fire. Korra sent a shockwave through the ground that destabilized them, and ripped the guns from half of their hands. She ducked into cover when the others recovered, now lost to panic and firing blindly. 

A duo atop a second guard tower climbed down a ladder as Korra rushed towards them. Too late. She grabbed hold of a rung, ripped it away, and tossed it towards the shooters rounding the broken remnants of the other. One managed to dive ahead of the impact. The Avatar rushed towards him ahead of a swirl of air and kicked him in the jaw.

“Fall back!” someone shouted. “She has the advantage outside, fall back into the prison!”

Some were all too eager to obey, dropping their weapons in surrender when they ran. Two ran for the gap in the outer wall opened when the tower fell. Korra ran after the last of those fleeing inside, placed her palms on the door, and ripped it off its hinges. They screamed as they ran faster.

The yard fell silent except for the faint whisper of crumbling brick. The other towers had emptied as well. A gentle breeze sighed past, pulling gently at her dust-colored clothes. A moment of peace, interrupted when the alarms blared, piercing Korra’s ears like a polar bear dog whistle.

She closed her eyes and focused on the ground beneath her feet. The alarms faded away. The prison’s layout sprawled out before her eyes like an unfurled map. First the guard quarters beyond the doorway. Rows of cells smashed together, the prisoners within rousing from their cots. Stairs descended to lower levels where armories and further guard quarters waited. More stairs, and more cells, smaller and less occupied. Korra’s eyes snapped open. 

“Found them,” she said into the radio. “They’re on the bottom level, like I hoped. You two should wait in the ship, and be ready to bring it down to get us.”

Mako grumbled. “Whatever you think is best,” Asami said.

Korra punched the ground beneath her feet, ripped the concrete away, and began tunneling.

###

It was dark as a starless night, and the tap-tap of dripping water was the only sound besides the occasional cough ripping through a rough throat. The Avatar stalked between the rows of cells with a handful of fire to light her path.

She wiped away the sweat drenching her forehead, wondering how it was so simultaneously hot and cold. The cells to either side of her were largely empty, though she occasionally a hunched, frail prisoner would moan and hide from the light. Constant intersections made her pause to map her surroundings. 

Another brought her to a halt. She closed her eyes and sought out her parents. They were close. Left, then right, the third and fourth cells. The guards from before were now behind her. Muffled alarms, soft as the rats scrabbling around the prison, still sounded above them. She wondered if they knew she was down here. They couldn’t possibly believe she had left.

The Avatar turned left, then right. She peeked into the third cell, and just managed to choke back her gasp. Empty. A frayed, thin blanket lay draped over a cot barely large enough for a child. An unoccupied stool and a dirty toilet were the only other shapes in the cell. She focused her sensing abilities, and again saw her mother within. She peeked inside, wondering what trick had been played on her, and how. 

This time, her gasp was loud and uncontrollable. Her mother was under that blanket, as week and still as a corpse.

###

_“No.”_

_“Korra…”_

_The Avatar turned on her mother, bottom lip thrust out and her eyebrows angry. “I finally found you. You don’t know how long I looked for you, how often I wondered whether you were even alive. For all I knew, the White Lotus had you and Dad killed when you disappeared all those years ago. Now we’re finally back together and you won’t stick around, even knowing the risk? That’s stupid.”_

_“You, of all people, understand the burden of responsibility, sweetie.” Senna took a cautious step towards her daughter. “And I know exactly however long you looked for us. Your father and I waited years for the opportunity to meet you again. We fought so hard to find you. We hoped Unalaq would help us, and when he didn’t we tried to force him. We never stopped loving you.”_

_Korra wiped her eyes angrily. Tears were a weakness. The Avatar does not cry. “Please stay. Please come with me.”_

_“I’m sorry, sweetie.”_

_“And if the White Lotus do find you? What if they take you again?”_

_Senna’s soft blue eyes froze hard as ice. “Then you’ll come find us, and spirits save whoever gets in your way.”_

_The scent of flowers danced on the breeze among the salt and the city. The lotuses would be blooming on the river. An ill omen. Korra wanted to keep begging. She wanted to threaten. She wanted to take her parents and lock them in a dungeon. Whatever it took to keep them safe._

_The doors to the balcony burst open. A long, muscled arm wrapped around Korra’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Why are you two hiding out here?” her father shouted, happily drunk. “It’s a celebration! A reunion! A goodbye! We’re supposed to be inside and happy!”_

_“Korra wished to talk to me,” Senna said._

_Tonraq peered down at his daughter, his eyes glassy and unfocused. “Are you still worried about me? Do you know how long I was in your uncle’s prisons? If there’s anything I know it’s how to survive in prison. You have nothing to worry about, Korra.”_

_An argument nearly burst forth from Korra’s lips, but it would have been pointless. Her father was too drunk, and the happiness seeping from his pores was infecting her, pulling her lips into a sloppy smile. “That so? You were the big man in the prison yard?”_

_The burly waterbender flexed his free arm. Korra always wondered where she got that from. “I mean, look at me!” he shouted._

###

The platinum bars pulled open reluctantly. Korra rushed inside, uncaring where the guards were or whether they would hear her. “Mom?” 

She shook her mother’s frail body until her raw, lined eyes opened within the sunken pits they’d fallen into. “Korra. It’s about time.” 

Her voice made her cry. It also made her smile joyously, fit to burst with laughter. “Wait her. I need to go get Dad.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Korra’s father was hardly in better shape. Somehow, he managed the strength to wobble to his feet when he woke. His broad shoulders were shrunken, and the muscles in his arms wasting away. His right eye was healing from an injury, the purpled flesh black as ink in the absence of light.

“Already? Shoot, I won’t get to enact my escape plan.”

She tried to laugh. It came out as a sob.

Once they’d gulped large sips of water from the canteen Korra carried, both Tonraq and Senna seemed to recover their strength quickly. “So what’s the plan?”

“I tunneled in. We’ll tunnel back out. I’m pretty sure I know how far to go to get us past the walls. It will take longer to get us out, but it’s safer than trying to bust out.”

“Okay, lead the way.”

The cells seemed even quieter than before as they crept through. Korra could no longer sense the guards, and even the rats could no longer be heard scurrying around. They reached the outer wall without a hitch. She took one last chance to use her seismic sense and gauge the world above. Guards had poured into the yard now. Some were running. 

“You hear that?” Tonraq asked.

Korra crushed a hole in the wall and threw her parents inside. She’d only just jumped in, the breach halfway sealed, when the explosion ripped through the prison. Heat kissed her cheek, and she screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	29. Old Companions

The Avatar’s hand burst through the rubble, tossing it aside. Fresh air streamed into the hole, and she took the deepest, most grateful breath of her entire life.

One last movement raised the ground beneath her feet until she was back at ground level. Her father coughed and groaned. Cool wind brushed her burnt cheek like a lover’s fingers. Even that slight contact made her tremble with pain.

“We’ll be okay.” Korra knelt beside her parents. “We’ll be alright.”

Black streaks marked their clothing, and ash and dust coated their faces like war paint. Senna nursed her left arm. Blood trickled down it, macabre streams washing away the grime, and her eyes were glassy, but she seemed otherwise okay. Tonraq lay curled on the ground, huge hands clutching at his chest. Every breath wheezed painfully through his gritted teeth.

“Let’s help him up,” Senna said. 

Korra nodded and gently pulled her father’s arm from his chest, draping it across her shoulders. Her mother did the same, and they managed the big man to his feet. The first step was hard. Every step after somehow managed to prove harder. Sweat poured down Korra’s face, her arms felt like lead, and she bit her lip to stifle the pain from the sweat pouring down onto her sizzling cheek. Eventually she could take no more and lowered her father to the ground.

“Korra!”

Asami and Mako sprinted towards the Avatar, dodging and leaping the rubble strewn across the yard. The airship floated just above the ground near a collapsed section of the outer wall, its boarding ramp lowered among the concrete and twisted steel. Mako hurried to Tonraq’s side. Asami slammed into Korra, sure to keep away from her marked cheek.

“We need to get my parents out of here,” she said. “Dad’s not looking good. Do you know where the nearest hospital is?”

“Um…” Asami pulled away, wet eyes looking down at Tonraq. “There’s a town about fifteen miles south. We can be there in an hour.”

Korra helped Mako drag her father back up. Her arms still felt like platinum chains were pulling them down, and her cheek stung worse than ever, but she determinedly dragged him towards the airship. “Let’s get there as quick as we can. Please help my Mom, Sami.”

The raven-haired genius nodded and hurried to Senna’s side.

The Earth Empire town was small, and they disembarked on the roof of the modest hospital standing along with a variety of municipal buildings on a straight street. Security awaited them when Korra descended with her parents to ground level. They backed away when they recognized her. Nurses rushed forward to take custody of Tonraq, but Senna refused them. 

“I can wait,” she insisted. “It’s just some blood. The wound isn’t going to kill me.”

She had just left the waiting room when Asami and Mako arrived. They found Korra bent over in her chair, still covered in dust, her lips curved in an ugly frown and her eyes smoldering like boiling, angry suns.

The Avatar watched Asami hesitantly approach. Mako kept his distance. “Are they okay?” her girlfriend asked.

“Mom is. I don’t know about Dad.”

 _Friends and family are a scab for your enemies to pick._ Korra brushed her fingers over the raw, hardening flesh below her eye. The pain had dulled to a lingering itch.

“I’m sorry.” Asami took Korra’s hand in her own.

“Avatar?” A young nurse stood near reception. “We’re ready for you.”

Korra kissed Asami’s hand. “I’ll be right back.”

###

She tip-toed lightly into her father’s room. His peaceful, sleeping expression was broken by fits of pain as his bandage-wrapped chest rose and fell.

A single chair sat beside a window. Korra quietly pulled it to Tonraq’s side and fell into it. Beneath her new bandages, her burn itched as if a dozen tiny bugs were burrowing biting the flesh. She pressed her palm gently against the cloth. It helped very little.

“About seven years ago, when Mako and I first started getting along, I wiped out a bunch of gangsters belonging to a Triad bigwig named Red-Eyed Raiko. He swore revenge, but he couldn’t get to me. So he went after Mako instead. He never knew why those Triads tried to abduct him. I never cared to tell him.”

“After Jianjun, and everything that happened at Zaofu, his army scattered but stayed intact. I spent months hunting down and eradicating them. Towards the end, a couple platoons had holed up in a long abandoned mine near Zaofu, near a popular overland trade route for people going to and from the city. Bolin’s wife, Opal, often oversees the larger shipments that leave the city and come back. It was nothing more than luck that I found those soldiers when I did. They were planning to ambush and kidnap her in two days. She has no idea.”

“And now this happens to you, and Asami…” Korra took a deep breath, but it did nothing to cool the fire burning hot in her stomach, or the whispers arrogantly screaming we told you so in her mind. “It’s all fucked up, Dad. Everything is always fucked up. I don’t know why it surprises me anymore.”

The news anchor’s voice still droned in Korra’s ears. Asami’s wide, disbelieving eyes still stared ahead. Mako still shouted, because all he knew how to do was shout. Right now, both were likely making arrangements to travel back to Republic City. Korra would need to hurry back before they left.

“Used to be when the people close to me suffered, I would become distant. Years of guilt and brainwashing are really hard to get rid of. Not this time, though. I didn’t do this to you. I didn’t blow up that prison, no matter what the news says. I’m not the one who blamed Asami’s company and is trying to ruin it. The White Lotus did this, they’ve always done this, and they’re going to pay.”

Korra leaned over and kissed her father on the forehead. “I love you, Dad. Mom is trying to contact your friends in the Northern Water Republic, so they can help her get you out of here. I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I promise I will. And I promise that when that day comes, we will be celebrating the death of the White Lotus.”

The low static of a television pierced the silence of the hospital as Korra marched away. Nurses and doctors watched from the corners of their eyes as she passed. Fear tempered opportunity. They would have seen the report as well. Korra continued on without a glance backwards and pushed through the entrance to the streets outside.

As she expected, Asami and Mako were packing their bags when she arrived back at the hotel. Asami stopped to greet Korra when she shut the door. “Is your father okay?” she asked.

The Avatar nodded. “We need to talk. Right now. I need to know everything you know about the White Lotus. I need to know everything you learned.”

Asami’s eyes narrowed confusedly. “You’re not coming back to Republic City with us?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Because you need to get out in front of this!” Asami grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. “Tell your side. Let everyone know you didn’t destroy that prison, that we had nothing to do with this. If you run off now, everyone will assume you are guilty, and me along with you. Tell your side and get the support of the people.”

Korra turned a hard glare on Mako. “Give us a minute alone. Go check on my mom.”

The firebender was more than happy to obey, his long strides falling just short of a sprint. Korra waited until the door closed to look back to Asami, and the pleading emeralds threatening to break her resolve.

“As long as the White Lotus is out there, nothing I do will ever change anything. They’ll always be there to ruin my life and endanger the people I care about.”

“But you can change things, you did change things. You told me yourself-”

“Are you going to tell me what you know or not?”

Asami recoiled, but she did not frighten. “You promised me. You promised me you wouldn’t lose yourself. You’ve worked so hard to keep that promise. Don’t break it now.”

“I’m not losing myself. I may be Korra, but I’m also the Avatar, and one thing the White Lotus taught me is true. There can be no mercy for the black of heart. If I’m merciful, they will think I’m weak. I’m strong. I’m going to show them just how strong I am. I’m going to show them that not even the White Lotus can escape the Avatar’s justice.”

“Korra…”

“So that’s a no?”

Asami nodded. “I won’t help you prove them right.”

“Fine.” Korra turned to storm from the room. Her cheek’s itch was maddening now, and her hand trembled to rip away the bandage and dig her nails into the cracked flesh. She turned around and kissed Asami on a cold cheek. “I love you. I’ll send you a letter.”

The engineer answered with icy silence.

Korra had just raised her hand to knock on the door to her mother’s room when it opened, and Mako slid through. She glimpsed her mother asleep within. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s okay, just tired.” Mako smirk was uncertain, one the Avatar recognized immediately. “You’re going after the White Lotus.”

“Yes, and don’t try to stop me.”

“I won’t. I think you’re right. As long as they’re out there, nothing else you do will matter.” Mako glanced over at the neighboring door. His voice was a whisper. “Do you have any idea where to look?”

Korra just noticed the pair of folders in his hand. “No.”

The detective handed them over. “I wrote everything down. It’s all in there, everything we know.” His mouth set in a hard line. “Get them, Korra.”

She hugged her friend tightly. “Thank you.”

###

 _You must look past the humanity of a villain. In the face of greater power, even the most despicable man will discover those things which make him human._ A shadow smiled within a hood. _They will beg, plead, and bargain. They will tell of you wives and children, of sick friends and the circumstances which turned them to evil. Some of it will be true. None of it matters._

Enlai blubbered, and pink spit ran down his chin. He had already run the gauntlet of excuses and made his bargains. Korra had been trained well in how to break a person. The wide eyes of a soul laid bare were an old companion. She need only ask one more time.

“Tell me everything you know.”

The words stuttered and whispered, they spat and sobbed, but they came. They came and came until Enlai could no longer speak. Names, dates, locations, connections like ant hills, spreading and disappearing as they crumbled, the wreckage transforming into new connections. It all began to tangle in Korra’s brain. She took a moment to separate the various threads. 

“That’s it,” Enlai said. “That’s everything. I’m so sorry, I’m not like them. Please let me go.”

He was not allowed another breath to lie or plead with.

Korra worked her way back through the sharp splinters of broken doors and blood-drenched hallways. One man still twitched as aftershocks stimulated the dead muscle. Death stained the air, familiar.

This first sat limp in the chair, slumped over but still bound. She had assumed him strong when she left him there. Now she wondered whether these men were simply ignorant to the trap at the prison. Unimportant men, not privileged to the workings of their masters. Both had refused and denied, no matter how she questioned about it. They had told her everything else, eventually, but not about the prison. They had screamed, they had hurt, but they had denied. And they had not lied. Korra knew a liar, knew the smell, the twitches, the look in a person’s eyes. 

And if since they did not lie, they were ignorant. After all, if the White Lotus had not set the trap, then who had?

Sirens blared down the street. There was no need to run, but Korra ran anyway. Away from the sirens, between two houses, scooting on a ball of air up the steep hill north of the neighborhood. She stopped at the peak to stare back down. A single blur of lights stopped outside the house. A lone man entered to investigate. When he ran back out of the house, tripping over his feet and sprawling onto the driveway, Korra continued on to her camp.


	30. Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while since I said this, but any and all comments are very welcome. Especially for grammar or continuity mistakes. I try to keep track, but sometimes I miss stuff.

“Pepper, yip yip!”

The massive bison groaned like a shifting mountain as it lifted from the ground, and Kazu yelped. She glared unappreciatively when Jinora laughed. 

“You’ve never been on a sky bison before?”

“Why would I?” the Fire Nation princess asked.

“What about dragons?”

Kazu shook her head. “They hide. The last time dragons flew free in the world, my mother was a little girl. I’ve seen them, but never been allowed the privilege of flying on one’s back.”

Pepper flapped his tail, lifting higher and higher. Above the flat plains to the south, above the sharp mountain peaks spanning the horizon, above the wispy clouds preceding the towering, dark storms which would arrive that afternoon. Well above listening.

Still, Kazu hesitated until the bison had leveled and began gently soaring across the sky.

“You know it wasn’t Korra, right?” Jinora said.

“I know. And so does my mother. We saw the assassins. If only anyone would believe us. The rest of the world thinks the Avatar has gone crazy. They don’t know who else would have reason to start killing world leaders.”

Things were still vague, at least since Jinora last heard. Six were confirmed dead, and many more had been attacked. Unalaq of the Northern Water Republic was dead. As was Ming-tun of Omashu, Shan of Makapu, Mayor Jie of Jang Hui in the Fire Nation, General Panikpak of the Southern Water Republic, and Admiral Shinju of the United Forces. President Aiguo of the United Republic was among those whose condition was unclear. The Fire Lord herself had been attacked, as had her daughter and her son. 

“They were all White Lotus,” Kazu said. “Everyone except my mother and me. Even the Fire Lord wonders if the Avatar is responsible. She doesn’t believe it, but she wonders.”

“And no one else has any clues? No captives?”

“Nothing. Only us.”

It couldn’t have been Korra. Jinora was sure of it. It couldn’t have been. 

“And did you learn anything?” the airbender asked.

Kazu nodded. “Do you know where Shu Jing is?”

Jinora nodded, and turned Pepper east.

They ate lunch as they flew, and the airbender showed the Fire Nation princess the basics on correcting Pepper if he strayed off course, though she was sure her bison would behave. Once Kazu was comfortable with the reins, Jinora slid towards the rear of the tremendous saddle mounted on Pepper’s back, closed her eyes, and relaxed her hands in her lap. The air smelled of coming rain. The sun washed over her like a sauna. Every breath filled her lungs with heat. 

When she opened her eyes, she immediately sensed the turmoil among the spirits.

She followed the flow of the roiling clouds across a forest of glowing mushrooms and bare trees. Spirits of all kinds rushed past her, fleeing. Some snarled and bared their teeth. Others watched her with wide, sad eyes. She did her best to focus on the path ahead as it climbed steeply up and lightning roiled above, spinning and splitting like the branches of the trees, yet never striking down.

The slope flattened as suddenly as the wind. The clouds circled each other like predators dueling over a kill. There were no trees, no mushrooms, nothing alive. Nothing but a single figure with her back turned and her eyes turned to the violent sky. Her bare arms were chiseled. Her short, chocolate hair was tangled.

“Korra!” 

Jinora rushed forward. The Avatar turned, but her smile was hesitant. A howl broke the silence and disappeared as quickly. Jinora stopped short, unsure of her friend’s mood. It had been mere days since they’d found each other in the Spirit World, and yet it felt much longer. It had been too long since they’d seen each other in the human world.

“Hi, Jinora. You look…nah, I won’t lie, you look kind of upset.” Korra tried a grin.

“There’s a lot going on. Not much of it is good.”

The Avatar shrugged. “I’m kind of out of touch.”

“But you must know about all the dead?”

“Yeah.”

Jinora waited for her to deny it. The air stank of unseen bloodshed, but the storm above settled. _The Avatar is the bridge between spirits and humans, and is deeply connected to the Spirit World itself. This connection can be seen in its very appearance._ A bird chirped. The sky brightened. Jinora hoped this meant her appearance had brought some measure of peace to Korra’s mind, however temporary.

“I‘ve stained some White Lotuses red lately, but not those White Lotus,” Korra said. “Those names are all unimportant. I’m hunting much bigger game. It’s probably the White Lotus themselves. They have me on the run, and trimming the flower of some dying leaves rids them of the nuisance and looks bad for me.”

The airbender let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “That’s what I thought. I was worried though, after what Asami…” She quieted immediately.

Too late. “Asami had some bad things to say?”

“Not bad, just scary. She’s really worried.”

Korra smirked. “She’s not leaving me yet, is she?”

“No,” Jinora smiled. “You’d have to do something much worse.”

Asami had not been angry when Jinora talked to her. She’d been sad, frustrated, concerned. Her tears had dripped from her words. But she’d never been angry, and had not lost faith. 

“You need to come back, Korra. You need to do something.”

“I am doing something. Look, if you’re here to feed me another bunch of crap about there being another way, you can toss it in the trash. I’m doing this my way now, got it? I’m almost done. They can all come after me if they want. Fire Nation, the Water Republics, the United Republic, I don’t care. I’ll throw them all back.”

The sky darkened. Funnels dipped towards the ground like probing fingers before retreating. “You know you don’t have to worry about the Fire Nation. I’m with Princess Kazu right now. She and her mother were attacked, but they survived. They’re on your side, Korra.”

The Avatar laughed. “I know, and I appreciate them tipping me off to all these people looking for me, but why would they care? I don’t think I’ve ever said more than five words to the Fire Lord.”

“Because they oppose the White Lotus. The Fire Lord is on your side. A lot of people are on your side, Korra. A lot of people want to help. We can all help. And we miss you. I miss you, Mom and Dad miss you, Mako and Bolin, Asami told me your polar bear dog still jumps every time someone walks through the door, hoping it’s you.”

She expected her friend to react more. A frown, a couple tears, a turned head to hide them. Instead, the Avatar only shrugged. “I’ll be back soon enough. Like I said, I’m almost done.”

The wind picked up again, carrying leaves green as emeralds and chittering bug-bird spirits past Jinora. Korra cocked her head, as if hearing something Jinora was deaf to.

“I have to go. Has anything changed since last time we saw each other?”

Jinora shook her head. “No. They’re still concentrating most of their searches in the Water Republics. And since the other nations all suffered losses, the Fire Nation is doing the majority of the searching.”

“Good.” Korra smiled, the most genuine smile the young airbender had seen since they’d last seen each other in person. One she needed to see to know her friend was still sheltered within this vessel of violence. “Thanks, Jinora. I’ll see you all soon.”

The Avatar vanished, and Jinora’s eyes opened on a clear blue sky.

Princess Kazu eagerly returned the reins to the airbender’s small hands. “Did you see the Avatar?”

“Yes.”

They dipped back below the clouds, following the islands that dotted the waters as they spread east. Warships crawled across the ocean like an army of ants. The Fire Nation emblem was emblazoned upon every hull, and soldiers in dark red and black uniforms covered the decks. There must have been thousands.

“What happens if they find Korra?”

Kazu frowned. “I suppose they’ll have to try and take her. I doubt they’ll succeed, though. Whoever is responsible for the murders, they did us a favor. The rest of the world was more than happy to let Mother take on their burden. Now they can protect their leaders and put all the blame on the Fire Nation for every day the Avatar is free. And we will bear their criticisms as best we can.”

The princess smirked, her cool, intelligent eyes as always breaking Jinora into parts and determining their sum. She looked every bit like the Fire Lord. Jinora wondered if she ever resembled her mother or father in such a way.

Shu Jing spread along the broken cliffs on either side of a river, squeezed between two mountain ranges. It was one of many cities along the eastern islands of the Fire Nation that maintained an old soul. Even from above the streetlights and power cables and cars could be seen, as expected of any modern city, but many of homes were the same that had stood for hundreds of years through storms, war, and earthquakes. The new homes built alongside them had been built with the same aesthetic.

Standing tall above all else, the ancient estate of the sword masters was as strong and magnificent as ever. Rows of statues bordered the practice courtyards surrounding the main mansion. A brilliant marble depiction of Piandao, the master who had settled in the town and established the teachings which students still followed, gleamed majestically in the sun. 

It pained Jinora to think the home of such a great man may house the assassins they sought. According to Kazu, there was no mistaking such swordsmanship. 

Pepper landed on the side of mountains hidden from the city, and the two young women perched on a ridge overlooking it. Close enough to see the recruits training at the rear of the sword master’s estate, but far enough to go unnoticed. Jinora watched the recruits train below. 

Her father had many times told her the story of Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe and his training with the great Fire Nation swordmaster. It was one of her favorites, and had inspired her curiosity in the blade. As she watched the recruits below, that curiosity stoked until it grew into desire. She had no interest in the mortal practicality of the skills. She never wished to spill blood with a blade. The art itself was what interested her. Light danced off practice swords as the recruits danced around each other, trading blows as they closed on each other, clashed, and backed away, their movements flowing with the ease and natural lightness of wind.

Hard men and women in dark robes trimmed with red watched them and barked instructions when they felt them necessary. Jinora wondered if any of them had had adventures like she’d read in her books, or like the legends told about Piandao. As a child, she’d spent long nights reading stories about his military career, and the way he had defeated one-hundred Fire Nation soldiers who came to bring him back after his desertion. She had read about the great sword masters who learned from him and slain dragons or won great duels for the hands of women they loved.

“The door,” Kazu said, interrupting Jinora from her fantasies. “Someone is coming out.”

Three cloaked men exited the back of the mansion, their eyes sweeping over the area. Two more followed with smiles on their faces and their lips moving rapidly. They were dressed in more casual clothing that distinguished them from both the students and the instructors. Jinora recognized neither.

“Do you know them?” Jinora asked.

“No.” Kazu’s mouth set in a hard line. “I’m not going to recognize a face, especially from this distance. We’d be better off storming the place, but that would give us away. Maybe-”

“Wait!”

The door opened again, and another man came out. His shaved head was pale where stubble grew in. His thick jaw was clean shaven, and his gray eyes shined with intelligence. Jinora gasped.

“What?”

“I know who killed those people. We need to tell the Fire Lord right away, and find Korra.”


	31. Truth

There had to be a better way to describe the fatigue set deep into Korra’s bones, weighing her body down like iron from head to toe. Tired was not strong enough. Tired didn’t make every step feel impossible. Tired didn’t feel like this.

“Avatar!” Ming-Hua hissed. “Hurry up. We’re almost there.”

No matter how hard each step was, she was managing them one at a time. Ming-Hua stalked ahead, soundlessly sneaking through the sands. P’Li and Ghazan took up the rear. The lavabender struggled with the heat much the same as the two waterbenders, but P’Li stood tall, strong, and smiling, soaking in the sun and reflecting it in her satisfied smile.

“How much longer?” Ghazan snapped.

“I don’t know,” Ming-Hua snapped back. She tossed a canteen back at the lavabender. “Drink some water and shut up.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” He went to drink, and the water slapped his face. “You bitch!”

“Stop acting like children, both of you!” P’Li demanded.

The trio had seemed tense ever since they found Korra on Ember Island, despite the good news which inspired them to seek her out. When their lips weren’t turned down in the frowns uglying their faces like scars, insults and arguments burst off their tongues. It wasn’t until they reached the desert that P’Li brightened, and her good mood rose and fell with the sun. Come night she was every bit as surly as her companions.

Perhaps it was nothing more than the wearisome journey sapping the joy from their bones sure as it was the moisture from their skin. Staying positive in the Si Wong Desert was a trial worthy of even the most positive person. Four long days had passed on foot, climbing the dunes and easing back down. Sweat flowed like a river beneath the bandage still secured to Korra’s cheek, making the burn beneath itch madly. It was the Red Lotus’s insistence that they take no vehicles. _Vehicles can be tracked_ , Ming-Hua had said. _Footprints can as well, but not quite so easily._

“You know,” Ghazan again whined, “Secrecy isn’t much help if it leaves us too weak to fight when the time comes. At the very least the Avatar could enter the Avatar State and whisk us over a lot easier than this.”

No one answered, and so the lavabender shrugged and continued walking.

Come nightfall, P’Li found the Avatar by their fire. As hot as the day was, the nights proved equally as cold. The combustion bender eased to the sand beside Korra, eyes staring hungrily into the flames. “I hate to do this, but you have first watch tonight.”

Korra nodded wearily. “Got it.”

“We should arrive tomorrow. This is it, Avatar Korra. Everything we’ve worked towards. Are you ready?”

“I will be. Just hold up your end of the bargain and we’ll take these bastards out.”

P’Li smirked. “You can trust us. This is the fight I’ve spent my entire life preparing for. The evil I’ve sought revenge against since the day they tattooed me.”

Korra watched the twigs crackle and give in to the power of the fires. “Have you ever been this close? You know, to beating these guys?”

“No.” P’Li long fingers flexed. “We’ve always ran. I’ve never complained. Running was the smart move. It’s how we stayed alive so long with the might of half the world wanting our blood. It was hard to admit at first, that there was something out there too strong for me to beat in a fight. Fear starts to become normal to anyone after long enough, I suppose.”

The Avatar could attest to that truth personally. Fear had paralyzed her for years and allowed the White Lotus to retain its grip on the world.

“Even now, when we’re so close and the enemy isn’t quite so strong, it’s hard to shake that fear of that power. You can only run so long before it becomes your first instinct, and you find your feet moving before your brain decides.” P’Li breathed deep. The fire seemed to draw into her lungs, making her skin glow. “Not this time. Finally, I can stop running and free the world from the fear that has enslaved it. My enemy is weakened and I will destroy it.”

She stood quietly and walked to her tent, leaving Korra alone. It was not long before the Avatar’s eyes began to weigh down. She stood and began walking, counting the seconds until she could retreat for her own rest.

###

It wasn’t until four more guards armed with shotguns emerged to join the two outside that the White Lotus guards moved forward. Even then, they did so reluctantly. Korra smirked. No matter how powerful the White Lotus may be, they still trembled from head to toe at the threat she posed, from the most unimportant guard to the presidents and CEOs who ran the world.

Not until platinum cuffs restrained her arms behind her back did the guards relax. Two rushed ahead to inform their superiors, two grabbed Korra’s arms, and two walked ahead as she was led towards the thick metal door built into the shadows beneath a ridge. It was the only clue revealing the White Lotus hideout; Ming-Hua had scanned the horizon for a half-hour before the sun chanced to glare off the steel.

Columns of armed guards lined the walls to either side of the corridor beyond the entrance. Korra ducked her head as she was led past, trying her best to appear beaten. She wasn’t much of an actor. She had been taught destruction, not deception. If anyone noticed she was faking, they didn’t say anything. Perhaps they were too afraid. Perhaps they were pretending as well.

The underground bunker spread out past the next door, at the end of the corridor. A large, rectangular room spread out before her. Along the straight walls at the edges, open archways led into a variety of antechambers. Crates of weapons and ammunition lay stacked atop each other. Practice dummies occupied a raised platform in the center of the chamber. A variety of burns, rips, damp spots, and dirty scuffs marked them from recent bending. 

Korra was led towards a descending set of stairs to her right. Low lighting illuminated the walls but did not quite reach the steps, making each step a gamble as her and her captors probed each foot forward. They continued past two landings, descending until there were no more steps to descend. The two men leading the way banged their fists on the door until a lock clicked and it opened with a heavy groan.

A prison much like the one Korra had found her parents in emerged from the darkness. The cells to either side were empty, and the air smelled damp and moldy. She badly wanted to rub her eyes awake and scratch her cheek. The dark and the heat were draining away the adrenaline, and fatigue was happily taking its place. Why was she so tired?

She was led into a small, square room with restraints on the walls. The guards led her over, and she did not resist as the cold bindings clamped around her wrists and ankles. Her fingers brushed over them, and she smiled. They were platinum.

Long minutes passed in the lonely dark. Korra’s eyes drifted closed, and blinked back open. Kichiro stood in front of her.

“Hello, Avatar.” A light flickered on. A hundred dark stains marked the walls, telling their similar stories. “This is a surprise.”

 _Kill him_. The whispers had been a constant companion of late, and grew louder by the day. _Kill him now. He will have schemes upon schemes, and you cannot allow him to hatch them._

Not yet. Her teeth clenched hard, until the pain drove past lives and past habits from her thoughts. Kichiro eyed her warily. “Most of my friends think I should kill you and start over with your next life. They believe you are beyond redemption. I believe you are more ready than you’ve ever been. When tested to your limits, you did not disappoint us. The others may not see it, but that’s because they fear what you’ve become. I can see that you’ve become exactly what we wanted.”

Korra glared at the White Lotus grandmaster. “I hunted you. I slaughtered you friends and drove you into hiding. I am not on your side.”

“You answered a threat with power, the way we taught you. You’ve seen that we were always in the right.”

 

“You were never right.”

Kichiro’s gold eyes looked her over, glinting as they broke her apart. “No?” He crossed his arms, lips upturned in a smug smile. “How long did you spend trying to battle us the ‘proper’ way? What did it accomplish? Your parents were captured, Zaofu was crippled, the airbenders nearly died, your friends saw their livelihoods endangered. We only grew stronger for all your efforts. They all rebel eventually. Yours was a fiercer challenge than others, but you realized the truth, as I knew you would.”

“What truth?”

“Do you really think the White Lotus has controlled the Avatar like some puppet dancing on strings? That the influence of childhood somehow lasted until the day they all died? Every human being grows tired of slaughter. Our spirits are not built for it. The Avatar may be fused with the spirit of Raava, but they are still human. A…period is needed where they will battle the truth of their burden. Where their humanity is lost, and all that is left is the Avatar. It is a hard truth, but every Avatar comes to accept it eventually.”

Korra’s muscles flexed against the restraints pinning her to the wall. “I will never let that happen!” 

_You must let it happen. You must become the Avatar._

“You will. You will, because you cannot help it.”

A harsh red glow blinked in regular intervals beneath the door, accompanied soon after by a piercing alarm. Footsteps rushed past the door. Voices shouted muffled orders.

Kichiro seemed merely annoyed, and rolled his eyes at Korra’s smirk. “Your Red Lotus friends will take a while to reach us. We have time to finish our conversation.”

Korra’s face fell, and hardened again. “Talk all you want. It just makes it less likely that you can escape this time.”

“Perhaps.” The Grand Lotus’s gold eyes danced with confidence. “Though I’m surprised you’re helping them, with all they’ve done to turn the world against you.”

“All they’ve done is help me.”

“All they’ve done is use you. They finally found an Avatar naïve enough to trust them and help them destroy their enemies. Who do you think is responsible for all the murders lately?”

The possibility had long ago lodged in the back of Korra’s thoughts, pushed as far back as she could manage. Dust and admittance shook loose from the walls and ceiling as an explosion rocked the world above. Concern broke briefly through Kichiro’s calm mask.

“They were helping me fight you,” Korra said. “Maybe they were brutal, but they were always on my side, doing what was necessary.”

“Of course,” Kichiro nodded. “I do not condemn their methods, but you are a fool to think they were ever on your side. The only help they want to give you is along the path to your death.”

Another explosion rocked the concrete, closer and stronger than before. Could the Red Lotus be moving so quickly? 

“We did not frame you for the destruction of the prison where you found your parents. The Red Lotus did. You are every bit as much their enemy as the White Lotus. In their eyes, you are the linchpin which secures our power. They are using you to kill us, and then they will kill you.”

The platinum bindings restraining Korra began to give. She gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself. Not yet. Not yet!

“They’ve always wanted you dead. The Red Lotus are the reason we built our compounds. Remember the first man you killed? He was a Red Lotus assassin sent to kill you.”

“Shut up,” Korra hissed. Her body trembled. 

“Every Avatar was approached at some point or another. They all saw the treacheries poisoning the Red Lotus’s offers. All except you. Perhaps you are too weak. Perhaps we did fail, and you are nothing more than a weak disappointment.”

Korra roared, and a stream of fire shot from her fist as it broke from the wall. The others melted and splashed to the ground. The Avatar unleashed waves of fire and air on the Grand Lotus in front of her, her attacks blind and raging. She collapsed the walls and threw them. Kichiro avoided it all with a mocking smile and impossible reflexes.

“Let go!” he shouted. “Let go, and become the Avatar!”

The Grand Lotus continued to dance as if flying, his feet rarely touching the ground and disallowing Korra the chance to maintain a bead on him. She unleashed her bending without pause and broke down the room around them. She ripped the door away and flung it towards the opposite wall. Kichiro slipped through the opening like a rat.

On the floors above, gunfire and screams were exchanged in equal measure. Steel bars groaned as explosions continued to rock the floors above them. Korra sped through the labyrinthine corridors after Kichiro. A lone pair of guards dared to stand in her way. Their bones snapped against the walls. Korra bounced off cell bars with a grunt when a shoulder slammed into her. She blasted flames in the direction of the attack. Nothing but air greeted them. 

“Unleash your power!” Kichiro shouted. “Let go of your humanity and let the Avatar spirit take over!”

_Kill him! Do it now!_

Korra stood with a growl and a glow in her eyes. Concrete and steel broke away with thunderous cracks and groans. Chunks of the ceiling collapsed around her. Lightning arced towards her, caught on her fingertips before redirecting into the bars to her right. It danced along the steel and out of sight. 

The world quaked as the hideout continued to collapse. The Avatar never stopped roaring.


	32. Conflict

“Things are finally looking up, Ms. Sato,” Jin pleaded. “You’ve done a remarkable job to keep Future Industries above water. You can’t abandon it now.”

No, she couldn’t. But she would. Asami thought back to the day she became the Sato at the head of Future Industries. The long nights spent locked away in her office. The days spent sweating in her factories. That discovered sweet spot her body found between perpetual fatigue and functionality. Like an old friend, she had spent the past month reacquainting herself with the person she used to be. 

“Korra needs my help,” she told Jin. “I’ll have to trust my subordinates to keep Future Industries level until I return. You can do that much, at least, right?”

Jin sweated like she was staring down a komodo rhino preparing to charge. “It’s risky. And I thought you and the Avatar were-”

“Her name is Korra,” Asami interrupted. “Future Industries will be here when I get back. My father built it from the ground up before, and I had to do the same when he disappeared. If I don’t help Korra now, she may not be there to rebuild later.”

The intercom buzzed, its expectance failing to prevent the offensive sound from startling Asami. Her secretary informed her that Mako and the airbenders were downstairs. She pressed the proper button and gave the permission to send them up.

“I have faith in my judgment, and my judgment is that my company will not collapse again in the couple of weeks I’m away.”

Jin nodded, though her uncertainty was written upon her wrinkled forehead. “She’s that important to you, huh? Your father would be happy to see you so happy with someone else. He always worried about the time you spent dedicated to your work at the expense of your life.”

He had voiced as much on a regular basis. Hypocritically, Asami always thought. Too many nights he had insisted she leave the office, go spend time with her mother, go out with her friends. Too many nights she and her mother had sat alone in the cavernous dining room with nothing to say to each other, lost in their grudges.

“I’ve already set schedules and priorities for the next three weeks,” Asami said. “I don’t expect to be gone that long, but it’s better to be prepared than not. If you have any urgent matters that absolutely cannot be handled without my involvement, you can reach me over the airship’s radio. I’ve written down every frequency, main and emergency. You know your jobs. Do them and we should be fine. Okay?”

“Yes, Ms. Sato.”

The businesswoman nodded. “Good. I’d like to be alone with my friends, if you please.”

Jin bowed and hurried from the room. Asami regretted that she hadn’t thanked her before the door swung shut.

###

The first time Asami ever set foot on a Future Industries warship, she had been a seven-year-old girl holding her father’s hand. Down below, the army of Omashu had spread out over the rocky plain like a separate city. Tanks, jeeps, armored transports, and towering square shelters for troops and weaponry had spread out below as the airship descended. By the time they left Omashu that day, onboard a private helicopter within the city’s walls, that airship had begun the rise which lifted Future Industries above its peers and made the Sato family one of the most powerful in the world.

The army crawling over the Si Wong Desert was much the same as Omashu’s had been. It was the only similarity. The armies did not belong to Omashu, but Zaofu and the Fire Nation. Future Industry built fighter planes instead of warships. Her father was gone, and no one held her hand. She hoped that by day’s end, she would hold the hand of one she loved even more.

Suyin tapped her foot restlessly. Tenzin stared ahead stoically, the grinding of his teeth the only break in his passive exterior. General Iroh kept his distance, glancing from time to time towards the rest of them but always looking away before another’s eyes met his. His mother’s studious eyes watched over her military.

“Wait,” Iroh whispered. “We’re close.”

Asami glared over at the Republic general. Distrust came easily enough to Asami these days, and Iroh had earned it many times over. She would have refused his help if not for his mother’s insistence. _He is a driven young man desperate to escape his sister’s shadow and make his mark upon the world,_ the Fire Lord had said. _He has seen the error of his ways._

It was not enough, but Asami did not hold sway over the rest of their party. And so all she could do was watch and prepare for betrayal.

“We have to turn north,” Iroh said. “There’s a ridge an hour away. It’s the only landmark for miles, you can’t miss it.”

“You’re sure?” his mother asked. Iroh nodded. “Good. Then let us prepare.”

Asami was among the last to head back inside the airship. She had spent every of the five days trekking through the Earth Kingdom preparing. Her pistol went into the holster on her belt, and three magazines alongside it. A bulletproof vest went beneath her jacket. Lastly, she slipped her weaponized glove over her right hand, as familiar as the cold metal of a wrench.

She had used the glove almost as long as she had used a wrench. Since the day she turned fifteen and Wong told her that her father was waiting in his workshop for her. Asami had found him standing by his table, cleared of the pet projects that typically covered the surface. Instead a variety of wires and circuits were neatly arranged beside each other.

“Every Sato builds their own glove,” Hiroshi said. “If you’re old enough to learn how to fight, you’re old enough for your first project.”

The glove she wore now was not the same one assembled in that workshop. She’d improved it over the years, both in fit and function. She had retained some of the cosmetic flaws with every iteration. The loose stitching along the wrist. The thumb being too long. That uncomfortable bulge where a wire pressed into the middle knuckle of her middle finger. _Fighting should always be uncomfortable,_ her father had told her.

A knock on the door shocked Asami from her thoughts. Tenzin entered once given permission. He looked to have aged years in the past few months. Deep wrinkles lined the skin hanging loose from his face. His eyes were clouded and troubled. His shoulders sagged and his back hunched. The scar above his ear flared angrily. 

“Are you alright, Asami?” he asked.

She nodded determinedly. “Yes. I’m ready. Worried, but ready.”

Tenzin sat on her bunk. Even off his feet, his eyes were nearly level with hers. “It has been a trying period. I’m glad to see it come to an end. I only hope we are not too late.”

“We won’t be.”

The old airbender smiled. Even his voice sounded old. “Despite our hardships, I’ve come to love Korra almost like another of my children. She has come so far since she first arrived to train under my tutelage. I’ve tried my best to help her in whatever ways I could.”

Asami sat at his side and grasped his hand. “And you’d like to do so one more time.”

“The world is on the precipice the change. The Air Nation is no different. Soon my children will take my place and lead our people into the future. It was during a conflict much like this that I became the leader of the Air Nation. Jinora is ready to do the same.” Tenzin smiled. “And I am ready to give her control, but first, I would like if my last act leading my people was to help the Avatar restore balance not just to the world, but herself.”

“You mean a lot to Korra,” Asami said. “She loves you like a father.” As did she. “You’ve done as much for her as anyone she’s ever known. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone today. You just stay safe so your children and Korra will still have someone to turn to when they need you.” And her as well.

Tenzin patted her hand. “Thank you, Asami. I’m here for you as well, if you ever feel I can help.”

Asami hugged the master airbender tightly. “I know. Thank you.”

###

Iroh’s hand shook Asami’s shoulder to break her trance. When she saw who touched her, her hand flexed into a fist. Behind him, Tenzin, Suyin, and Mako waited. The United Forces general ignored the anger tensing her entire body. “We need to go while they are distracted.”

Asami turned away from the battlefield. The White Lotus had responded to their attack with a fury, rolling tanks, guns, and benders from beneath the ground like an anthill swarming over an invader. Explosions rocked the ground like an endless earthquake, and gunfire ripped through the air like lightning, as loud as thunder. 

Somewhere below them, Korra fought as well. Asami listened for her voice, waited for her to burst through the sands. 

Three more men in blue and white hurried through the door built into the ridge. “Go!” Suyin hissed. Like the rest of them, she could not help but cast one last lingering gaze towards the battlefield. Her forces were the majority of those bleeding and dying in the hot sun. She had shown no qualms to offer Zaofu’s full support in attacking this hideout. Asami wondered if second thoughts had begun to creep into the older woman’s thoughts.

They rushed out of the desert and into a bloody massacre. Bodies lay twisted on the concrete. Charred skeletons steamed against walls. Blast marks scarred the walls, and blood dripped from the ceiling. Somewhere below them, gunshots and bending were exchanged. “That’s not any of ours,” Mako said. 

Fleeing footsteps echoed ahead of their owners to the right. Moments later, four panicked White Lotus guards dashed through the open entryway. They stopped when they noticed the intruders. “Who are you?”

Iroh was the first to attack. Mako and Suyin were quick to follow.

Asami and Tenzin rushed past the fight towards the stairs. The steps rumbled beneath them when an explosion shook the hideout. “That wasn’t outside,” Asami said. “That was below us.”

Three more guards rushed up the stairs towards them, fear written plainly in their wide eyes. The youngest of them attacked immediately, whipping at Tenzin’s face with the water from a canteen at his waist. Another reached for his pistol. Asami rushed at him before he could grab hold, and knocked it from his fumbling fingers.

Strong winds tugged at her hair and clothes, and the waterbender flew backwards to crash into the wall. She shocked the guard who had reached for his gun, ducked a punch from the third, and swept his legs out from under him. The stairs rose to crunch his ribs. Asami looked back to find Suyin and the others in combat stances.

“Let’s hurry,” the metalbender said. 

Others climbed the stairs as Asami and the others descended, all frightfully fleeing and desperate to break past the five intruders in their way. The fifth group they came across hesitated before attacking, their bloodied, dirty faces pleading to let them past. From then on, they allowed the White Lotus guards to rush past them without resistance.

Asami would have considered them cowards if she had not fought alongside P’Li or seen the aftermath of the lavabender’s power at Zaofu. The explosions rocking the hideout grew louder with every step, and so did her own fear. Her father’s voice whispered cautiously in her ears. _Just like the machines we build, our bodies have limitations to what they are capable of. You must understand and master those limitations in order to achieve the most out of them both. So don’t press the gas pedal so hard on that turn next time, Asami, unless you know what’s waiting at the end and you’re sure you can handle it._

She ran faster down the stairs, taking the lead. _Some situations demand that you push those limitations, Dad_ , she thought, _just in case you underestimated them._

Another landing appeared, but before the engineer could reach the next set of stairs, the walls closed in, blocking access. She turned towards the opening where a pair of doors had been blown off their hinges and rushed through. The air heated and distorted like the desert horizon. Asami ducked just as P’Li’s blast cratered a wall.

The others rushed into fighting position beside her, but a stream of lava sent her diving away again. When she looked up, a solid wall of hardened rock shimmered hotly, and only Iroh was at her side. P’Li towered before them. Her grin was an evil shadow darkening her features.

“Of course,” Iroh sighed. “I’d have preferred the one who can’t toss aside my firebending.”

He and Asami both reached for their pistols. When they stood after dodging another blast, both had lost their weapons. Iroh shouted mindlessly as he unleashed a barrage of fire on the combustor. P’Li stood her ground and tossed the flames aside as easily as swatting away flies. Asami waited for the next barrage to rush forward, hoping to use the cover to close the distance. She narrowly avoided the ill-aimed blast directed her way.

Grunts and shouts voiced the fight on the other side of the volcanic rock. Tank fire and air bombings rocked the hideout from above, and P’Li’s blasts kept Asami defensive. The fight began to cramp her legs, the smoke and dust blurring her eyes. She gritted her teeth, rushing forward one more time. A plume of smoke blocked the combustor’s view, and Iroh’s bending kept her busy. The engineer reached out her gloved arm, inches away. 

When she came to, Iroh stood above her. P’Li’s eyes and teeth were both clenched shut. The magma wall had been breached. “Go find the Avatar!” Iroh shouted. “Hurry!”

Asami should have felt guiltier when she ran. A violent shaking knocked her off her feet once she reached the stairs. Perhaps she would have felt guilt if the shaking stopped, or the walls had not begun to collapse around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 3-4 more chapters!


	33. Better

_Good! Don’t let him escape! Destroy him! Destroy them all!_

The whispers were a rioting mob, a screaming celebration of victory, as loud as the Avatar’s roaring voice and the loud cracks as the prison collapsed around her. Another section of the roof crashed to the floor, a bed and a footlocker spilling atop the concrete. A crackling like lightning accompanied large rips sundering the walls. Twisted metal bars reached desperately from the wreckage at her feet like clawing arms pleading to their God.

She growled when a sharp pain spread through her back. Her glowing eyes swiveled around. A small, fox-faced woman with arms of water stood at a distance, crouched at the knees. “Stop it, Avatar!” she hissed. “You’ll kill us all!”

“I’ll kill you,” the Avatar said. 

The waterbender rushed away when the Avatar charged, darting among the wreckage like the fleeing rats and flinging sharpened ice stakes backwards. Running only made her easier to corner. Great gales and raised walls hounded and redirected the Avatar’s agile prey. Watery limbs grabbed hold of broken metal, using it to perform sharp turns. The floor raised, and she jumped it. The ceiling lowered, and she banged her head. She did not hit the ground before the Avatar sent her flying into the wall with a gust of air, breaking away an already weakened section.

“Stop,” the waterbender croaked. Her body seized as she coughed up dust. “I’m not your enemy.”

_She attacked you. She challenged you. Why would she do this if she is not your enemy?_

The Avatar snatched away the water creating the waterbender’s left arm, and struck down at her with a cold, sharpened point. She rolled away and wrapped the other arm around the Avatar’s neck. It turned to ice, hard and choking. A chill crept through the Avatar’s flesh, numbing the burn upon her cheek. She roared as she smashed the frozen arm with her fist. The floor threw the waterbender hard into the collapsing roof above, and the ice melted to water, soaking through the Avatar’s clothes.

“You need us!” the battered waterbender croaked. “You need us to-”

Her pleas choked off in her throat beneath the Avatar’s gripping hand. Cold sweat trickled from the icy stake in the other hand, the drops steaming where they dripped onto hot skin. It melted where the sharp point split skin and pierced the waterbender’s heart, the ice staining red as it sizzled away.

The small body squeaked when it fell to the ground. Legs twitched alongside its final breaths. “Good, Avatar!” another said, the one who the Avatar had chased before. “That is how you deal with enemies.”

“Where are you?” she screamed. Her voice was hers and many, as loud as the bombs breaking apart the walls and just as powerful.

“You have the means to find me. So find me.”

Through the thin soles of her boots, the prison spread out before her. A mocking grin flashed on a mocking face. She rushed forward, dodging the rubble still falling like hail as the building bunker broke apart. The grin did not vanish as its owner ran. He did not run fast enough. With every twist and turn he grew closer. His fire was easily tossed aside. His hood flapped behind him, almost close enough to grab. The Avatar reached out her hand.

Boulders fell before her, blocking the path, and the Avatar snarled, ready for an attack and ready to make the person responsible pay. It wasn’t until the rest of the ceiling continued to collapse that she realized what was happening. A cacophony of voices shrieked as they fell. When the dust scattered, faces both friend and foe emerged.

“Korra!” A handsome young man staggered to his feet. Black teeth were all that remained of a burned sleeve.

Relief lit an older woman’s face when she saw the Avatar, her green eyes bright and grey hair frosted white with ash. Another man, older but also handsome, rose at her side. A skyscraper of a woman brushed loose hair, dark as the bits of rock surrounding her, from her sight. Even longer hair of the same color hung limp and damp across a sharp face above tattooed arms. 

All were in her way, and the mocking grin put more distance between them with every wasted breath.

The Avatar tossed the older woman and the tall one aside with a blast of air. The two handsome men were smarter, and cowed from her. Heat washed over the Avatar’s skin as lava bubbled at her feet and splashed towards her, a challenge. _Those who challenge the Avatar must always learn._ Only a single drop sizzled on her thigh. The rest she repelled back towards the tattooed lavabender. He tossed it aside, but by the time he recovered, the Avatar had raised the rest above his head. His screams and skin both sizzled.

“Very impressive,” the mocking grin congratulated. “That is a powerful man you just destroyed.”

_Enough of the games_. The whispers were humiliated, their anger a throb in the Avatar’s head. _If you cannot catch him, then make him come to you._

Blood flowed fast within the firebender’s veins, calling out to the Avatar. He was far, far enough to assume he was safe. He would learn, as they all did. No one was safe from her power. When she took control of his arms, he tried to run, and only made it more painful. His legs strained with effort. A single vein in his temple pulsed as he struggled. Useless effort that replaced the mocking grin with panic. His body was a prison, and the Avatar was its cruel warden. 

By the time his body floated before her, acceptance had drained the strength from his limbs. His hair hung over his downturned eyes. “Show me no mercy. The Avatar must never show mercy to the black of heart.”

Someone pleaded for mercy behind her. Those cries were drowned beneath the twisting tendons and popping bones as she pulled the mocking grin apart. Bones pulled from joints. Knees snapped. Fingers and toes hung limp and bruised. She twisted his head around until his neck snapped. Ivory broke skin and spilled blood. When it was over, she let him fall like an empty sack, useless to anyone and deserving nothing more than to lie on the ground collecting dirt. The dead were dead, and the evil dead damned. Better to let their bones rot than pay them the respect of a burial.

The air grew hot, and the Avatar felt her shirt burn as she was sent spinning through the air.

###

_Asami’s perfectly manicured hands flew as fast as the wind to cover her mouth, but it was too late. The giggle bubbled up her throat and forced through her smiling lips like Korra through an obstacle. When her raven-haired friend tried to swallow her girly laughs, she snorted and they escaped anyway._

_“Oh spirits,” Korra said, laughing. “That’s it, from now on I’m doing everything I can to make that sound come out of you. That’s hilarious.”_

_“Good luck.” Asami’s chest rose and fell as she regained control of herself. “You just witnessed a phenomenon as rare as Sozin’s Comet. Enjoy the memory because it will be a long time before you hear that sound again.”_

_“That sounded like a challenge.” **Those who challenge you must always learn**. Korra told the whispers to shut up._

_“You bet.”_

_Korra grinned, willing to take that bet. Things were so much easier around Asami than other people. They hadn’t been friends for very long, but she was easily the best friend Korra had ever had. Mako was a friendly acquaintance, and his brother Bolin a fun person, but their fear of her was in every word they spoke. Since the moment they met, Asami had never shown that fear. She had only wished to be Korra’s friend._

_Sirens broke the peace, a common occurrence in the cesspool of crime that was Republic City. Korra wanted to ignore them. It had been too nice a day to let the dirty stains ruin now. She would have ignored them if the fire trucks hadn’t turned down her street and sped by, and if she hadn’t seen the black smoke rising above the buildings a couple blocks away. When she turned to apologize to Asami, her friend was already jogging towards her vehicle._

_“You coming?” she called back._

_They arrived at the fire to find the firefighters bending the water from a hydrant onto the flames covering a four-story apartment building like a shifting blanket. Asami rushed past the crowd to help the non-benders attach a fire hose to a second hydrant. Korra rushed over to the chief shouting instructions._

_“We don’t know,” he said when Korra asked the cause of the burning building. “But I sent a rescue crew in. I think there are still people up top.”_

_Korra airbended her way atop a fire truck, and then up to one of the few windows on the top floor not pouring flames and smoke through the frame. She carved a path through the destruction, bending the fire and smoke as she walked. Distraught sobs languished within the apartment. The cries led her to a man kneeling over a dead woman and a teen girl with the same hair and eyes._

_His lip quivered, and his blue eyes went as pale and wide as a frozen lake. The knives he threw gave him just enough time to sprint through the flames to the fire escape._

_By the time Korra followed, he had reached the street and was sliding atop the street, the asphalt breaking behind him. A familiar car stopped below the building. Its driver looked up. “I’ll try to cut him off!” Asami shouted. “If we both chase him, one of us will corner him to the other!”_

_The tires squealed and left skid marks. Korra jumped to the street, closed her eyes, and breathed deep. When she opened them, the Avatar gave chase._

_She followed the broken streets left in the murderer’s wake. Drivers slammed on horns and swerved to the side to avoid her. Deep gouges led her down highways, through alleys, went east and doubled back west, a nonsensical maze of panicked escape._

_A sound like a rockslide rolled through the streets ahead of the fleeing man. Korra prepared to follow, but Asami’s Satomobile sped behind close him. She screeched to a stop. “I’ll make him turn north on Fire Peak.”_

_“And I’ll be there to stop him at Sokka Memorial. Got it.”_

_The engineer sped away, her loose hair flowing behind her like an expensive satin cloak in the wind. Korra continued the way she was. Right, then left, then another right. The intersection spread out before her. She waited beside the wall of a deli as the grumbling of upturned streets grew closer._

_A raised lip of street tripped the murderer and sent him sprawling. Korra stalked towards him, eyes still aglow. Drivers and passengers exited their cars, some to scream and run, others to watch. Cameras flashed. She ignored them. The Avatar had control, and there was justice to enforce._

_“I had to,” the murderer blubbered. “They made me. **She** made me.”_

_**They will beg, plead, and bargain. They will tell of you wives and children, of sick friends and the circumstances which turned them to evil. Some of it will be true. None of it matters.** Korra had no taste for pleading. Better to fight then beg. She gathered fire in her hands. This one would meet the same fate as those he’d murdered._

_Asami’s car skidded to a stop beside the Avatar, and she jumped over the door. “Don’t do it, Korra,” she said. “He’s beaten. Bring him downtown and let the police handle him.”_

_“He’s a murderer.” Korra’s voice was one and many. “This is justice for his blood and burning flesh.”_

_“It’s not justice. It’s more murder.” Asami dared to approach. The Avatar tensed. “Bring him in. Lin Beifong will never let him get away with this. I promise.”_

_The flames continued to build, until they began flowing over her wrists and down her bare forearms. **He is the evil you were born to fight. He is the evil which will drown the world if left unchecked. Mercy does not prevent blood. It only changes the bodies it flows from to the innocent instead of the guilty.**_

_Asami’s hand lay smooth and unafraid on Korra’s arm. Her green eyes, emeralds in the sun and flames, did not look away from the threat in the bright glow. “You’re better than this. I know you are.”_

_The fires wavered, flickered, and faded in a puff of smoke._

###

Her eyes opened onto twin pools of jade. Familiar hands caressed her cheek, smooth, but not shying from work. Beyond, the tall woman stood over a groaning, bleeding body while two others hid. Fire sought them, corralling them like koala sheep. Explosions tossed them around. 

The Avatar pushed away the hands on her skin. Her back felt like a hundred needles pierced her spine. Her head was foggy. The whispers were screaming their fury. The tall woman turned her blood-red gaze around. Her tattooed forehead smiled a violent smile. A hungry sneer. 

Poor woman. She knew no better, but ignorance was no excuse.

The ground shifted beneath the woman’s feet, disrupting her combustion bending before she could release it. Loose debris slammed into her ribs. Her head smacked against a low-hanging section of collapsed roof. The Avatar stalked forward, never ending her barrage. Head, chest, arms, ribs, arms, legs. Debris and black rock rained down big and small until the combustor fell to her knees.

One last slab of iron-stabbed concrete fell bloody to the ground, and she knelt before the Avatar. No fight remained in her eyes. All her spirit cowered in the face of one superior. She knew her fate. She did not argue it. The Avatar admired this one. The strong were rare, and it would be a shame to end this one. Yet she must be ended all the same. 

The Avatar pulled black rock from a pile at her feet. Flesh ripped away with it. One blow was all that was needed. The combustor sneered her defiance as she waited. _No mercy for the black of heart. The White Lotus has been right all along. Kill her._

_You’re better than this. Promise me._

“I promise.” Korra dropped the rock and broke the concrete around a chunk of rebar. It steamed within her hand as she wrapped it around the combustor’s head, covering her tattoo. Two more pieces secured her wrists and ankles. P’Li never fought.

“I’m surprised,” she said. “I thought we had broken you.” Asami stood strong at Korra’s side. P’Li glanced at her, understanding. “Ah.”

“You’re going to admit to everything you’ve done. I know you won’t give us Zaheer.”

“Never.”

“I don’t blame you for that. But you will help clear my name. You’ll tell us where to find the proof that you destroyed that prison, and you’ll give every detail the four nations need to find the killers of their leaders. Then you will spend the rest of your life in prison.”

P’Li scowled. “We’ll see about that.”

Asami clasped Korra’s hand within her own.


	34. Eyes

As was habit lately, Korra woke alone in bed. Only for the first time in months she woke with the smell of fruit, motor oil, and something faintly metallic blended with a laundry detergent she had only ever smelled in one bed. When she finally groaned the sleep from her body and sat up, the creak of the bed preceded smooth, thin arms and damp hair wrapping around her, filling every sense like a familiar home-cooked meal, comforting down to the bones.

Asami’s soft lips pecked Korra on the lips, and then on one eyelid still guarding the sleepy blue underneath from the evil morning light. “I missed waking up here,” the Avatar said. “Remember when I hated this bed? I used to be really weird.”

“Now you know how I feel when I’m away from home,” Asami said.

Korra groaned. “How do you ever manage to do something productive with your day?”

“By getting up and doing it. Come on, Avatar, you have work to do.”

“No.”

Korra made one last futile effort to bury herself in the blankets and smells of the bed, but it was too late. The sun was pouring in through the windows, its warm fingers teaming with Asami’s to rouse her from her sleep. She was right, of course. There was a lot to do today. If Korra didn’t wake up now, Beifong would do it herself. 

The smell of breakfast drifting up the stairs was still a sensation Korra was adjusting to. She shuffled down in her socks, through an archway, then another. Two plates sat atop the small table in the family dining room. Not the same as the guest dining room, where a row of tables big enough to seat fifty sat unused. This one seated six, but Korra took the chair beside Asami, who did not sit at either of the ends.

A newspaper was spread out on the table beside the dark-haired beauty, which she read as she chewed a mouthful of cantaloupe. She was already dressed for the day as well, and her damp hair was now dried and styled. Korra had barely managed to throw a pair of socks on to go with her pajamas.

“You’re all over the news,” Asami said. “They’re somehow managing a balance between immediately forgiving you and hanging you in front of City Hall.” She handed over the front section. “I assume they’re all waiting to see which side public opinion falls on before committing.”

Every page seemed to have some mention of her. Editorials, articles, and photos dominated around smaller articles about the various goings on in Republic City. “I suppose it was too much to hope someone leaked what P’Li has told us before they printed.”

“It’s okay. They’ll learn the truth soon enough. Even after everything that happened, most people didn’t want you gone. The President caved to a vocal minority.”

“The thousands of people there when he banished me doesn’t seem like much of a minority.”

“It was. There are millions in Republic City who did not want you gone. You saw a lot of them yesterday.”

Thousands had cheered when she escorted P’Li to the waiting police van outside the airport, and more had cheered when they arrived at headquarters. It had been unexpected. Korra wished she could have enjoyed it more, but Suyin, Mako, and Iroh were still on her mind. And Zaheer was still out there, still plotting. P’Li claimed ignorance so far. The Piandao estate had been tossed upside down and its residents arrested, but Zaheer was long gone.

“Be safe today,” Asami said, wiping her mouth with a napkin and swallowing one last gulp of juice. “When are you going to the hospital? Maybe I’ll see you there.”

“Early,” Korra said. “Right away.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you tonight, then.” Asami leaned over and kissed Korra on the cheek. The Avatar blushed and grinned. “What?”

“I almost forgot how this felt. This is the dream, isn’t it?”

“We’re not there yet, Korra.” Asami grabbed her suit coat from the back of a chair. “Call me this afternoon. Let me know what’s happening.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Without Asami, the mansion felt more like the haunted tomb Korra remembered. Every noise bounced off the walls as if they were mocking her, and servants she didn’t notice before seemed to be everywhere. Portraits of Asami’s mother and father and grandparents, generations of Satos, judged her from the walls with eyes like green wastelands, cold and unforgiving. She hurried back upstairs and dressed just as quickly, eager to be off.

A mishmash of military personnel patrolled Republic City General when Korra arrived. Ember reds and midnight blacks, forest greens and hard silvers, airbenders in bright orange, and United Forces soldiers in bright reds and smoky grey all managed a hazy coexistence through sufficient distance. Most managed calm appearances, but there was no mistaking the emptiness in their eyes. Every one of them except the United Forces failed to even glance the Avatar’s way. She repaid their lack of courtesy as she marched past.

Suyin sat upright in her bed, the bruises covering her arms blending with her tanned skin. Her twins, Wing and Wei, stood at the side of the bed, and laughter drifted through the slip of space between the door and the jamb. A gift basket stuffed with chocolates and cheeses lay on a table beside her. Korra had visited her the night and found out the twins and Huan had arrived that morning, eager to tell about Opal’s success in her mother’s role. She’d always known Opal would thrive when the day came.

The arguing voices of Tenzin’s children could be heard well before she walked past the airbender’s room. Pema stood amidst them all, her weary face wrinkled and tired as she attempted to calm her children with her typically soothing demeanor. Tenzin lay asleep in his bed. A large bandage covered the side of his head from above the ear to the crown. A matching scar for the other. 

Korra reached a hand to her own fresh bandage over her burned cheek, and the strips of cloth covering her neck and legs. None of them had walked away clean, either in body or soul.

Six Fire Nation soldiers stood watch outside the Fire Lord’s room. The glint of amber above their sharp cheeks was the only motion differentiating them from statues. Korra turned the door knob gently and pushed the door open quietly. The insistent, encouraging beep within nearly made her flee.

Princess Kazu stared out a window at the city streets below. More journalists gathered outside by the hour it seemed, swarming over the parking lots and courtyards like vultures swarming a corpse. The princess turned around and acknowledged the Avatar with a nod. Like her protection in the halls, only her eyes betrayed her. They were red, raw, the bags beneath barely concealed with makeup.

“I’ve called a press conference at noon,” she said. “There’s no reason to hesitate. Best to give them what they want. That’s what Mother always told me.”

“You don’t have to,” Korra said.

“Of course not, but avoidance only encourages speculation, and speculation must not turn to rumor which could weaken my country.” She glanced back at the window. “I would…appreciate your opinion on what I should say.”

Korra nervously rubbed the back of her neck. She was the last person anyone should ask about handling the press. “I should probably ask how your mom is doing first.”

“She’ll be fine, but her recovery may take some time.”

“I’d just tell the truth, then. The Fire Lord suffered injuries but she will recover. I wouldn’t tell them who we were fighting. Not yet, at least.”

Princess Kazu nodded. Her eyes were like gold, and strong as steel. It was easy to see her mind at work within them, but impossible to discern what those thoughts were. Even the stark red veins which had scarred them when Korra entered seemed to have vanished.

“I’m sorry this happened,” the Avatar said. “I don’t know why you decided to help me, but without you I’d either be dead or…worse. I wish I could thank you more than just giving my thanks. ‘Thank you’ isn’t much consolation for what the Fire Nation suffered helping me.”

“We can discuss repayment when this is over. I’d say ‘you’re welcome,’ but that would suggest this was purely a favor for a friend and not an opportunity we took advantage of.” The princess bowed. “For now, we can agree that our interests aligned, and be grateful we could assist each other.”

Korra slapped her fist into her palm and bowed as well, though she’d rather slap her fist into Kazu’s mouth. Whatever her motives, Kazu had been on her side. And she didn’t want to be ungrateful, however angry politics made her.

A polite tap on the door preceded a slim body peeking inside. Jinora smiled politely. “Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Korra said, smiling at her friend. “Not at all. Do you need to talk to me? Is your dad okay?”

“He’s fine.” Jinora’s curled mouth did not hide the hesitation in her eyes. “I do want to talk to you, but I was actually hoping for a moment alone with Princess Kazu, first.”

“Oh.” Korra looked between the two young women. “Alright, well…I’ll wait in the spirit woods.”

The young airbender stepped forward and pressed her thin frame against the Avatar. “I’m glad you’re alright, Korra. I won’t be long.”

Korra slipped quietly from the room, casting a last lingering look back at the three women within.

###

In the distance, like a smudge uglying a flawless diamond, storm clouds gathered. 

The Avatar watched them build on the horizon. Hostile skies were not strange in the Spirit World. Some parts, like Koh’s realm or Hai-Riyo Peak, seemed permanently enveloped by storm clouds, eternally building and never unleashing their rage. This place was different. This place was peace and serenity, blue skies and joy. She’d never seen a single cloud of any color, let alone one so foreboding.

Minutes, or years, passed before Jinora arrived. It was always hard to mark time among the spirits. The young airbender stopped at Korra’s side and scowled at the storm clouds, but did not appear surprised.

“What is that?” Korra asked.

“The spirits are in turmoil. Uncertainty clouds their thoughts.”

“Uncertainty about what?”

Jinora glanced over. Korra understood immediately. 

“Other parts of the Spirit World are worse. The spirits turn to darkness within the shadows. The air smells wrong, the wind feels like acid. Evil spirits grow stronger. What’s wrong, Korra? Is it Zaheer?”

Korra shook her head defiantly. “To the Fog with that creep. I’ll deal with him eventually. He can’t run and he can’t hide. If I have to break every bone in P’Li’s body to get her to talk, that’s what I will do. However long it takes, she will tell me where that son of a bitch his hiding.” 

Dark clouds united with those already gathered on the horizon, spreading their shadows over the waving grass. The Avatar scoffed. “I don’t know how else to deal with him!” she shouted to the sky. “This is who I am! This is what I was taught to do! It’s how I stopped the White Lotus, it’s how I crippled the Red Lotus, and it’s how I’ve kept peace my entire life. Why shouldn’t I handle Zaheer the same way?”

“Korra…”

“There’s no one to teach me another way, Jinora.”

“Yes, there is.” The airbender’s fingertips were hot against Korra’s bare arm. “You’ve always known how. Stop listening to the Avatar. Stop listening to the cruelty the White Lotus instilled in your mind. Start listening to the person. Listen to _Korra_.”

“Listening to Korra put your dad in a hospital. Korra’s an idiot.”

“No, you are a good-natured person with a strong sense of right and wrong. You are a loyal person who will do anything for those who earn your trust. You are strong, and not just physically or as a bender. You were strong enough to see the dark path ahead and diverge from it. It’s about time you notice what a wonderful person you are. It’s time you realize you _are_ a person.”

Korra sat in the grass, watching the ghostly leaves dancing on the wind. A warm glow settled in her stomach and spread through her chest. “So what do I do when Zaheer shows himself?”

Jinora sat beside her. “You do what Korra thinks you should do. And your friends will stand beside you, because we know Korra is right.”

###

“It’s about time you showed up,” Beifong grumbled. Her eyes were not quite so sharp as the steel edge in her voice.

Korra frowned at the urgency in her tone. “Did you need me here?”

Lin shook her head and motioned for the Avatar to follow. A steady grumble had settled over the entire station, only broken when she passed by one of the many huddles converging around desks and water coolers. The words jumbled together to prevent understanding, and Korra stopped eventually stopped trying. The hard scowls and angry eyes were enough to know something terrible had happened.

They climbed the stairs, walked past Mako’s empty office, and into the larger one assigned to the chief herself. Once inside, Lin asked Korra to close the door. When the Avatar turned around, the unsealed envelop was halfway through the air between the two. She let the paper hit her chest and caught it as it fell. “Read,” Chief Beifong said.

The blood fled Korra’s face with every sentence, until it was white as snow and just as cold. Her eyes were a pulsing hurt. “Damn it.”

“I’ve had Su’s generals storming in and out all day. Just like her, they have no restraint. They want a head-on attack. No matter how stupid it is or how much I tell them no, they keep shouting like morons.” Lin sighed and shoved her chair. “We have to do something. I can’t stomach the idea of giving P’Li over, but if it means the life of my niece, that’s what I’ll do.”

“Have you talked to Mako?”

“Sent him home for the day. He needed to cool down.”

Korra read over the letter one more time. She’d known Zaheer would make another play. She had not expected this, and not so soon. “Is turning over P’Li your plan? Do you think you could catch them once Opal is safe?”

“What else can we do? That woman is a pro. She would happily die before she would break. You could tear the city apart, but that’s a huge risk.”

“No. I won’t endanger them that way. Not even if Suyin insisted.” 

“Then we turn her over, and hope we can catch them afterwards?”

The Avatar sighed, and ran a hand through her hair.

P’Li waited in her cell, the piece of rebar Korra had twisted around her head still in place, though her hands and feet were now bound by platinum cuffs. She greeted the Avatar with silence and blank eyes. 

“Is it your turn to torture me?” the combustor said in a flat voice. 

“No. You are coming with me, though.”

P’Li smiled. “Let me guess. We had never decided, but I like to think I know Zaheer well enough. The Fire Nation?”

“No. Zaofu.”

“Hmm. That is surprising.” She stood. “Well, no time to waste. Not if you wish to save the city.”

Korra’s teeth grinded behind her closed lips. “You won’t get away.”

“We will, because our cause is just. The Avatar and the White Lotus are an archaic authority suppressing the world’s potential. Not only will we get away, but we will win. Defeating the White Lotus took years, but at the end we were victorious.” P’Li shrugged at the Avatar, as if she were a bug to squash beneath her boot. “You won’t be hard.”

Korra sent forth a powerful gust that threw P’Li into the wall, cracking the back of her head and knocking her unconscious. Two jailers moved to unlock the cell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this isn't going down exactly like Book 3 did.


	35. Humanity, Pt. 1

Some might have thought it funny that Korra would return here. Some prank by fate, some humorous turn of the wheel of time. One of Zaofu’s generals, a thin-bodied, round-faced old man with a slicked back hair, had certainly laughed hard enough as he ate breakfast with his men. 

“I wonder if she’ll finally destroy the city this time,” he had said. “Third time’s the charm, right?”

She wondered if he had been disappointed to learn that the plan kept her far away from Zaofu. The exchange would take place outside the city, in the ashen remains of the twice-razed farmlands. Korra would not take a single step inside a dome. Once both sides had custody of the hostages, Zaheer and P’Li would be “allowed” to escape. To be sure Korra could not stop them, she would have to be there every step of the way, and if she moved as much as an inch, Red Lotus operatives would leave nothing of Zaofu’s domes but a series of craters to match the black rock covering the southern valley.

What to do afterwards, Korra was still trying to figure out.

P’Li slouched in the back of the truck transporting them, her every muscle relaxed. Outside, the hills and green plains were beginning to grow steeper and rockier. Streams began to cut blue paths paralleling the highway. “You could still kill me,” the combustor said. “It’s what I’d do in your place.”

“You could turn Zaheer over to me once we arrive. We could both do many things.”

“Maybe, when I was younger and had yet to see the extent of the injustice the Avatar suffers upon the world. Thankfully, such lies lost their ability to manipulate me long ago.”

Korra frowned at the tall woman before her. “I’m not Siyu. I’m not lying.”

“Not now. But eventually, you will end up the same as the others. You can’t help it.”

“Yes, I can.” The Avatar glared at her captive. “You’re no better, you know. At least I’m trying. You’re much weaker than I am.”

P’Li’s relaxed expression froze hard as a glacier. 

“You’ve become exactly what your kidnappers wanted you to become. You may not be their monster, but you became someone else’s monster instead. A weapon that destroys at another’s will. What makes you better than me?”

“I am free!” P’Li’s cuffs rattled at her wrists and ankles. Her pale skin flushed as red as red as her eyes. “I do what I want!”

“Really? So when you were a little girl, smiling and laughing with your friends, you wanted to spend your life running? When you parents tucked you in at night, you dreamed happily spent spilling blood? Can’t you see? They won. The people who took you won. They wanted to warp you into a monster, and they did so.”

“And I killed them for it!”

“So what? You think that mattered to them? Do you think that would matter to the White Lotus if I live my life as the monster they wanted me? Kichiro died happily because he thought he had won. And I guarantee you those terrorists who enslaved you died happily as well, because they corrupted you into the monster they wanted.”

P’Li lunged at Korra, the muscles in her long arms uncoiling like an attacking snake. The cuffs on her ankles held true where they secured her to the ground, and she fell face first into the Avatar’s lap. Korra let her go once she was sure the tall woman would not crack her head against the metal floor. She stared down sympathetically. 

“I’ll kill you, Avatar.”

“It’s never too late to change, P’Li. You just have to find your reason to change.”

The combustor eased slowly back to her seat, fiery eyes fading to dying embers.

Korra slid to her left, just far enough to escape the tall woman’s considerable reach, and leaned her head back against the hard wall behind her. Invasive fingers separated from the winds rushing past the vehicle to run through the hair at the back of her head. Hot wind, like the shockwave of an erupting volcano. Sweat trickled down her neck, seeped through her collar, and slipped cold down her spine, trying its hardest to combat the heat. It might be a losing battle, but it was worth the attempt. 

She closed her eyes, wondering whether she was trying too hard to convince the world she had changed when she could not know for sure that she had. The whispers were quieter, but they were still there, insistent as the hot wind pressing through the window or the burning hatred in P’Li’s tensed arms. They still made their demands, still mocked her as weak. Every instinct she had ever learned told her to slaughter Zaheer the moment she saw him. If Zaofu were to fall, so be it. The millions lost were worth the lesson taught to any who thought to challenge her power in the future.

A new feeling had settled in her chest as well, beating strong alongside the steady thump of her heart. Something she could only think to describe as good. Whenever the whispers grew too loud, she would close her eyes, like she was now, and take deep breaths until the good spread warm through her chest and chased them away. It had worked so far. She hoped it would work when Zaheer stood before her. 

“We’re about two hours out.” Wei looked back through the metal screen in that was the only view between the cab and the bed of the truck. His twin brother Wing drove, following the jeep ahead. “Do you want to stop once we’re off the highway or keep going?”

“Keep going,” Korra said. “The sooner this is over, the better.”

Wei nodded and told his brother. Complete with a punch to the shoulder that prompted a response, of course. It wouldn’t be a proper conversation between Suyin’s twin sons without some form of roughhousing. If the screen wasn’t blocking her, Korra would have thrown a couple shoulder punches along with them.

She wondered whether Suyin was still fighting to leave the hospital. It had taken the Avatar swearing up and down that she would let nothing happen to Opal or her city, and an agreement to take the large majority of her capable soldiers in Republic City, before she agreed to stay behind. 

Just short of two hours later, when the cliffs began to rise to either side of the truck, Korra banged her fist on the roof. “We’re stopping here. Give the order.”

She waited as six separate engines cut off and voices started up in their place. They came closer, chains were unlocked and pulled away, and the heat which had laid siege to the truck came rushing through the open doors like a swarm of infantry through a breach.

Lin and Mako glared past Korra, at the combustion bender still restrained behind her. “Why are we stopping?” the police chief demanded.

“We don’t know what Zaheer has prepared for us,” Korra said. “I don’t like to think that he’d risk P’Li, but…” She glanced nervously up the steep rock faces to either side, the stunted trees atop them standing sentry and potentially hiding dozens of enemies. “We should leave P’Li and most our escort here while the rest of us continue on foot. Once we have Opal, we’ll send word and have our crew bring P’Li to the city.”

“No way,” Lin said. “If there are men watching us, they’ll attack and take P’Li the second he leave. By the time we reached Opal she’d be dead and the city destroyed. I won’t take that risk.”

“Neither will we.” Wing and Wei stood firm behind their aunt.

Mako shifted slowly and silently to their side. Three generals nodded their agreement. Korra wished Asami was there. She would have seen the sense in the plan.

“We’re taking a risk no matter what we do,” the Avatar argued. “If you want to be sure they don’t take P’Li, you can decide between you who will stay behind and who comes with me to Zaofu. If you don’t trust me to safely bring Opal back, I’ll stay here and you can go. It’s less risk than continuing along like we are.”

She watched as they conversed among themselves, isolating her from the discussion. _They’ll never trust you_ , the whispers taunted. Korra closed her eyes and waited for the good to chase them away.

“Wei, Wing, and I will stay with everyone except Guan-yin and Sying,” Lin said. “They will go with you and Mako.”

Korra smiled, wanting to brag. Instead she bowed. “Thank you.”

The police chief stomped forward. “Don’t let anything happen to my niece. Don’t take any risks or argue. Bring her back safe.”

###

While the rock had long ago cooled, guilt still made it burn beneath the Avatar’s shoes just as hot as it did when it spread red and burning across the battlefield. She could feel the stares from the two Zaofu generals behind her, scorching the standing hairs on the back of her neck. Korra shook her mistrust away. There was no place for it right now.

A barricade of tanks, both treads and legs, waited in a rigid steel line. Any hope that Zaheer had exaggerated his numbers evaporated into the sky. The Red Lotus terrorist stood atop a tank, surrounded by thirty cohorts wearing red and black. His eyes were as hard as the metal domes at his back, and his pale lips were pressed tightly together.

Opal and Bolin lay on the ground in front of the treads, still and restrained, neither appearing hurt or panicked. 

“Stop. No closer.” Zaheer held a trembling hand up. “Where is P’Li?”

“Safe with friends. Once you send Opal and Bolin over, they’ll bring her to you.”

“Bring her to me now.”

Mako stepped forward, and six mecha-tanks took grinding steps to meet him. Korra reached out an arm to hold her friend back. “I need more faith from you than this,” she said. “You hold the superior cards, I can’t just hand over the only one I have.”

“Why should I trust you?” Zaheer said. “There’s nothing to trust. For all I know, P’Li is dead. Bring her to me now or these two will die. I promise.”

“Ask your scouts. I’m sure they’re watching.”

The terrorist’s fists clenched even tighter, until his knuckles were as pale as the stubbly skin atop his head. Behind the fury, Korra could feel the fear. She recognized the crack in his voice.

Korra turned to Sying. “Radio Lin. Tell her to bring P’Li.”

The soldier’s already hard expression turned to rock. “That wasn’t the deal.”

“We’re not handing her over yet,” the Avatar whispered. “Trust me. He needs to see her.”

Sying glared, but eventually turned and pulled the radio from her waist to place the call.

They waited as the sun fell hot at Korra’s back, disappearing behind the cliff and casting shadows across the valley. She watched as the sparkling diamonds on the surface of the river dulled away, and the blinding silver glint off the tanks became a mottled gray. Zaheer’s stare never wavered. Other than the rise and fall of his chest, he was a stone gargoyle perched atop a tank.

Korra stared back unflinchingly. Mere months ago, she would have seen nothing but an enemy to be destroyed. She would never have noticed the small things she saw now. The flush reddening his skin. The nervous sweat that did not lessen when the air cooled. How those around him stared sideways, unsure and worried. Most of all, she knew the downturn of his lips, and what would cause it. 

An engine broke the silence, roaring louder and louder as it approached. Others soon joined it. Black rock cracked beneath the tires of the convoy. It came to a stop twenty yards away from Korra, all except the transport truck. For the first time since they talked, Zaheer’s statuesque expression wavered.

Lin jumped from the back of the transport and froze when she noticed Opal and Bolin. “What are you doing?”

“He doesn’t want to hurt them,” Korra said. “He just needs to see her.”

Hard, green eyes stared deep into Korra’s icy blues. The Avatar never wavered. “Fine. Go get her yourself.”

P’Li stepped unresisting from the back of the truck. When she reached the jeep at the head of the line, the Avatar took firm hold of her arm to stop her. Zaheer slackened, relief leeching the tension from his body.

“Okay,” Korra said. “Send Opal over, and I’ll send P’Li over. Let’s start there.”

Mako glared at her. “Are you crazy? You can’t leave Bolin!”

Biting her tongue just barely drowned the reprimand about to spit from Korra’s mouth. Mako had never been the smartest about when and were to argue, and now wasn’t the time to feed an argument. She cleared her throat, ignoring her friend’s whining, now aimed at his boss. “Deal? You send Opal, and we’ll send P’Li. That way we both have to show a little trust.”

Zaheer’s thick jaw worked back and forth as his teeth grinded. A quick gesture, and one of his lackeys knelt beside Opal with a ring of keys in hand. Two padlocks fell heavy to the dirt, followed by the chains they had secured. The green-eyed young woman stood slowly. Caution and numb muscles made her first steps slow. When she looked back, Zaheer jerked his head angrily to give his permission. 

She was running by the time she was halfway. Her brothers picked her up and twirled her, and Lin hugged her as she hurried her towards the jeeps at the rear of the convoy. An expectant silence settled in to replace their whispers. 

Korra ignored the disagreement surrounding her like traitorous knives as she undid P’Li’s chains. She kept her focus on the tall combustion bender looming over her, and those red eyes that refused to meet hers. “You don’t have to be what they made you,” she whispered. “Neither does he.”

P’Li’s strides were long and calm, the falseness in every step well hidden. Zaheer took her in his arms when she reached him. His chest heaved, and they quickly separated.

The shadows began to deepen, and a sudden chill prickled Korra’s dark skin. _Fool_ , Siyu whispered. _Naïve child_ , Kuan hissed. _You are gullible. You still have not learned. You are no Avatar_. Korra closed her eyes and breathed deep. A soothing, familiar voice sang in her ears like a sweet song. _You are a true Avatar._

Zaheer took his own deep breath, and reluctantly nodded. Bolin’s chains fell to the ground, and he ran too quickly once he gained his feet, falling back down in a cloud of dust. The rest of his steps were taken sheepishly, but no one moved to stop him.

“Leave,” Korra said. “And know that I will hunt you.”

“And know that we will hunt you as well,” Zaheer said, his calm nature returned. He smirked over at P’Li, but the tattooed woman did not share his glee. Her red eyes still refused to meet Korra’s.

###

The Avatar landed softly on the deck of the airship, one she knew as well as any home at this point. Finding her way to the pilot’s cabin was like navigating the familiar hallways of Air Temple Island, or the damp, dark alleys of Republic City. The faces of the crew were as well known as the White Lotus compound of her childhood or the servants at the Sato estate.

When she pushed through the door, like she had so many times into a familiar office, she found a familiar face analyzing a Pai Sho board the way she did the myriad of paperwork that crossed her desk. Baatar Jr. sat opposite Asami, his teeth worrying at his bottom lip.

“Who’s winning?” Korra asked.

Asami’s slender fingers moved a piece, and her opponent’s jaw dropped. “I just did.” She stood with a smirk while Baatar stared at the board. “Everything went well?”

Korra nodded, only just allowing herself the relief that it was over. Opal and Bolin were safe, the city was being swept for explosives, and everything would be okay. At least for today. “Do you have a bead on them?”

The brilliant engineer crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised triumphantly. “Of course. I even had time for a quick game.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters. One to wrap this up, and an epilogue.


	36. Humanity, Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the conclusion to the Red Lotus. I know some people may not like it, but hopefully most of you will.

_“What do you want?”_

_Tenzin held his chin high, and took each step to the table with a practiced dignity. The bandage above his ear was the same crimson color as the suit beneath his robes. Surely he must have been in pain, but his face was an impassive mask, free of judgment or anger._

_He only made Korra angrier and more ashamed._

_“You need to return to Air Temple Island and continue your lessons,” the master airbender said._

_“Why?” Korra couldn’t look at him. She settled for sneering cockily out a window. “You have nothing to teach me. All you have to do is look in a mirror to see that.”_

_“I have everything to teach you. Airbending is not about power. Winning a fight proves nothing, and neither does this wound. You could inflict a dozen more upon my person and it would never make you an airbending master. You’re no better than my children.”_

_The Avatar’s hands trembled, begging to show how much better an airbender she really was. A glimpse of wet cloth wet her eyes._

_“You can be more than this, Korra. You can better.”_

_“I **am** better. I’m better than everyone. I’m more powerful than a bug like you could ever hope to be. Why should I ever bother learning from someone who can’t beat me? I’m the Avatar. The only thing I should be learning is how to grow more powerful. Clearly you have nothing to offer me.”_

_The airbender rose calmly to his feet. She thought she saw a suggestion of smile playing at his lips. “I urge you to think it over. I’m confident you will change your mind. I would…like if you returned.”_

_Korra continued to stare out the window until the door closed behind him._

_A sullen silence settled in the room after Tenzin left. A silence that typically would have been filled by the whispers in her head, the lessons of a lifetime continuing to teach through repetition. They were there, for sure, but their fingertips only brushed the surface, whereas they should have bruised the skin to eliminate the other. A second voice, not in her head but her stomach, reverberating throughout her chest as it spoke heresy._

_She left the diner without a purpose, and soon found her steps taking her out of the city. She didn’t stop. With each step the guilt dissipated. Eagerness replaced her hesitance. The trashy smell of Republic City turned to earthier smells. Fresh-cut grass from recently mowed lawns. Flowers blooming like rainbows streaking along hedges. Ripe fruits hung from trees; Korra smelled lemons, apples, oranges, and others she did not know._

_The properties grew larger as she walked, and the houses followed suit until sprawling mansions began to tower over guarded gates. She had only come alone twice, yet she never needed check her surroundings until the Sato estate loomed large up a steep climb to her left. Nor did the guard question her presence before pressing the button that rattled the gate open. She hardly spared him a glance, even when he said hello._

_A door slammed shut in sync with the front entrance. Asami came stomping down the steps moments later. Her agile fingers pinched the bridge of her nose above her thinking frown. “Tough day?” Korra asked._

_Asami’s hand flew from her face. “I’ve had better. Dad’s decided there’s some kind of bug in his brain today sucking the common sense from his head.” Korra’s own frustrations must have shown, because Asami smirked at her. “I could use a distraction.”_

_“Usual spot?”_

_“Usual spot.”_

_Sunset came and went, and the two young women’s laughs accompanied the waves lapping at the coast. That was always Korra’s favorite thing about this spot, how the quiet let her hear the ocean. Even down in the mansion itself, you couldn’t hear a single wave. The higher you climbed, the louder and more numerous the sound, until you could hear the full march breaking upon the sands and cliffs._

_“When are you going to tell me about Tenzin?” Asami asked._

_“What’s there to tell? I’m right, he’s not. Simple.” Korra swished around a mouthful of tea, matching the rhythm to the waves, and swallowed._

_“Then why are you so upset?”_

_**Because I know I’m wrong.** “Because I’m sick of all these old bastards who know nothing about being the Avatar thinking they know better than me. Newsflash, I **am** the Avatar. I think I know what the job entails. Tenzin is supposed to teach me airbending, nothing else.” Korra looked over at her friend. “You know what I mean. You know better than your father, that’s why you’re so angry at him.”_

_“Sometimes.” Asami sipped at her own tea. They always decided on tea these days. “Sometimes he knows better. Together we will always figure out the right way to proceed. Tenzin has seen two Avatars besides you. Perhaps you should listen to him, and together you’ll find the right path.”_

_“You’re supposed to shut up and agree with me,” Korra mumbled._

_“I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I did that.”_

_No, and that’s why Korra found herself talking to Asami rather than Mako or Bolin or anyone else. The others were too frightened to give her truth. They nodded and bleated like koala sheep when Korra needed a new perspective. She had only ever learned lessons through hard truths. Asami was the only one who understood and gave her hard truths._

_“He’s too weak to teach me,” Korra insisted weakly, her arguments stripped of their muscle._

_“I don’t know what is best for you, but Tenzin is a good man, and a great bender. I don’t think you’ll find anyone better. And I don’t think you want to.”_

_She was right. Korra didn’t want to find anyone else, no matter how much she tried to convince herself she should. “I’m the Avatar. I shouldn’t apologize for my power.”_

_Asami placed a gentle, warm hand on Korra’s arm. “You’re more than just the Avatar. You’re a human being, just like the rest of us, and sometimes we do stupid shit that eats at us until we apologize for it. Sometimes life gives you a second chance, and you’d be pretty dumb not to accept it.”_

###

“That’s impressive,” Korra said, staring down at the massive mechanical wonder where it sat idle on the ground below them. 

“Very,” Asami said. Her eyes studied the vehicle like a lover’s body, appreciative and lusting. “How did Zaofu build something like that without word reaching the circles I’m associated with?”

“We’ve managed to remain a relatively closed society,” Baatar Jr. said. His eyes never left the tunneler either, but there was no admiration glinting within the green, only anger setting it ablaze. “Our residents work to improve Zaofu above all, and are proud to keep our secrets. This was a big secret. I’m surprised Zaheer located its hangar.” The eldest of Suyin’s children, he was a brilliant engineer in his own right and fiercely proud of his home’s advancements. “Maybe we don’t keep secrets so well as I thought.”

Korra watched as a cloud of dust shot straight up from the ground and settled back towards the surface. By the time it vanished, the tunneler had descended back below ground. It never stayed in sight for long. Three days now they had trailed after it, and the longest it had stayed above ground was an hour. Long enough to eyeball it, but not long enough to execute any plan.

Now, the time had come for Korra to strike. Baatar had helped build the machine, and helped identify the spots where the hull was weak enough to quickly breach it. She had spent a night and day memorizing the layout. Asami had checked and re-checked the airship’s weaponry and systems.

Baatar’s unwavering focus had switched to the radar screen. Asami wandered the cabin, checking instruments and conferring with the crew. Thin trees bowed before the wind below. Korra grabbed her glider from the wall. “Okay. Here we go. Wish me luck.”

Asami hugged her girlfriend fiercely. “Good luck. You can do this.”

“I expect the tunneler will resurface again with two hours,” Baatar chided. “If you haven’t finished by then, that’s when we’ll come after you.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Korra opened a door onto a balcony and leaped over the railing.

The day was beautiful, the warmth from the sun like a comfortable blanket on a cold winter night. Whenever the heat threatened to become too much, a perfectly timed gust would cool her down. The glider bobbed up and down along the currents, hardly needing Korra’s own efforts to stay afloat.

Tenzin’s gift was as effortlessly perfect as ever. “A gesture of forgiveness and conciliation” he had called it when he handed her the custom glider. “Normally, I would have you build it yourself. Perhaps one day we can do so.”

They never had, and Korra had never wanted to. Her glider was perfect. Sturdy, light, the material rarely ever ripping and easily mended. It responded to the lightest touches, yet did not lose course from stronger gusts. She had glided beneath blue skies and black, through wind, snow, and rain, through battles where the solid wooden backbone had cracked bones. Now it was time to do so again.

She nosedived towards the ground and pulled up inches away. Sprinkled among the grass, she could see the pebbles shaking along, revealing the location and direction of the tunneler. Korra sped ahead, until the shaking pebbles were behind her, and landed lightly atop a bare patch of hard, cracked earth. Energy built in her stomach and shot to the tips of her fingers and toes. Her hair came alive. The ground began to rumble beneath her feet. She turned her glowing eyes downwards, and the hard earth turned to quicksand, sucking her below and shooting her through the ground like a bullet.

A hard metal shell painlessly halted her descent. Memories of harsh lines slashing through paper matched the vibrations speaking through her shoes. Dirt encircled her like a grave and parted like mud. She walked until the metal grew thin, ripped it open, and jumped inside. Two men immediately grabbed her arms and were easily tossed aside.

###

_Asami remained silhouetted in the doorway, having not taken a single step forward since she walked in to find Korra seated on her bed. She also had not stepped backwards, which the Avatar hoped was encouraging._

_“Do you mind?”_

_“Only if you keep sitting there quietly,” her raven-haired friend said. “I’d like to get some sleep at some point.”_

_Korra laughed, and it felt like razorblades. She was supposed to be angry. “You know, this is all your fault. If the White Lotus had someone creep up and slit your throat right now, you would have no one to blame but yourself.” **Liar,** the whispers said. _

_Asami recoiled at the Avatar’s accusatory tone. “What do you mean?”_

_“The Avatar has no parents, no friends, no attachments of any kind. I must be a machine. Powerful, efficient, and entirely without mercy. I never had a problem with that before. I used to be able to stare down some blubbering piece of shit and take glee in the myriad of methods I could reduce him to a puddle. Now I wonder if I should take them to the police instead. Sometimes I do.”_

_“That’s not my fault. Blame your brain.”_

_“My brain never used to be a problem.” Korra stood, and the bed hardly made a sound. It was too damn perfect, just like Asami. “I can’t have friends. The White Lotus won’t like that we’ve grown so close. Everything about this brings nothing but danger. You being my friend puts you in danger from the White Lotus. I’m in danger because I’m hesitating. Republic City is in danger from the criminals I should be killing. Having friends is a bad idea.”_

_Asami shrugged. “So don’t be my friend. I’m not forcing you. I’m not in your room stopping you from getting sleep.”_

_She was right. Korra marched forward, intent to shove her way out of the room and out of the mansion and away from the Sato estate for the last time. Her resolve lasted as long as it took to reach Asami’s side._

_“If you really want to walk away, I understand. You’ve told me enough about the White Lotus to make your point clear. But don’t throw away your friends because of fear. I’ll always be there for you, whenever you need me.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because you deserve it. Because you’re a good person. No matter how hard they tried, the White Lotus never beat the good out of you, the humanity, because you’re too strong and too good.”_

_Korra slumped against the wall, her tongue pressed hard against the inside of her cheek. “I’m not so sure about that, but I don’t really want to stop being your friend. I don’t want to stop being friends with Mako or Bolin, either. I don’t want to stop visiting Air Temple Island to meditate with Tenzin and his kids or cook with Pema. But if I don’t, then you will all suffer for it.”_

_Asami leaned against the wall beside the Avatar. Not a shred of worry flashed in her eyes, green as emeralds and glowing in the light. “You’re going to have to make this choice yourself. And when you make the right choice, know that we’ll all be right behind you. Because we trust the person you are, and know you’re not the person they want you to be.” She smiled, and there was no fear. “You don’t have to be what they made you.”_

###

Sweat poured down every inch of Korra’s body, and the dirt raining down from the breach she had created stuck wetly to her hair and face. A pebble struck the still-healing skin on her cheek like a heated point of steel, burning the mutilated flesh. Korra winced and bowed her head, grabbed hold of the rent folds, and closed the hole back up. 

Red Lotus goons poured into the room from doors in front of and behind her. Fire and steel rushed past her as they attacked, their voices screaming their courage. Korra avoided their attacks, guiding them to favorable positions and eliminating them one by one, until the screams vanished and their courage with them. Soon all that remained was the sound of scraping earth against the exterior of the tunneler.

When she was sure no one else remained to attack her, Korra focused on the vehicle itself. Three levels, with ladders leading up and down to each of them. She had entered closer to the rear of the machine than the head. On the bottom level, near the middle, was the control room. It was a safe bet Zaheer and P’Li waited there. The Avatar took a moment to sense the opposition awaiting her. They still scattered and scurried, unsure of how to attack and unbelieving of their chances. Korra wished they would just run. 

She moved from chamber to chamber, leaving those who dared fight her unconscious and restrained. They fought bravely to stop her. They attacked in synchronized pairs, using attacks practiced together under fire. They prepared traps. Metalbenders crushed doorways, firebenders delayed her with flames, waterbenders drowned rooms. At best they delayed her. At worst they provided Korra weapons to destroy with.

Down a ladder, and more waited. She tossed them aside with ease, moving from room to room until the floor became thicker and smoother. Platinum. Below, Korra could sense two people. A metal bar lined the ceiling above her. She jumped up, grabbed hold, raised her legs, and slammed them down into the floor, breaking a hole through which she slipped into the control room. 

Neither Zaheer nor P’Li had a chance to react before they were gripped within Korra’s bloodbending. She tossed Zaheer aside, his head banging off a control console, and focused her efforts on the more dangerous of the pair. P’Li groaned and hissed as her third eye was turned away towards the wall.

“It took longer than I thought to track you down,” Korra said. “This thing is quite the contraption.”

“Let her go, Avatar,” Zaheer hissed. He stumbled to his feet.

“I wish I could,” Korra said. She meant it. “I owe you both for your help. But you’re criminals, and responsible for the deaths of many. You must face justice for your actions.”

“And what about all those you have killed?” Zaheer’s eyes were wide, panicked. His mouth twitched with every cry of pain between P’Li’s clenched teeth. “Damn it, let her go!”

She did not remember the world fading to black, but as it returned to form and color, wind whipping at every inch of her splayed body, she realized there was a gap in her memory between Zaheer’s demand and her current predicament, like driving somewhere familiar and remembering none of the journey. She tried to shake away the fog still clouding her brain, but the wind continued strongly. Her glider lay in the corner where it had been ripped from her hands. A breach in the tunneler, surely. It must have surfaced. Any moment now it would stop, and she would fall to the ground. When she opened her eyes, Tenzin or Jinora would be there, reaching a hand down to help her up.

Only the wind did not stop, but grew stronger. The world came into focus and lost all sense. Zaheer was inching towards his right, where P’Li’s chest heaved with breath. His eyes never strayed from the Avatar. Both his arms were outstretched, and from them, air rushed unendingly towards Korra, keeping her pressed against the wall.

“P’Li? Are you okay?”

The combustor nodded and regained her footing. Her red eyes turned dully towards the wall. “What do we do now?”

“We have to kill her,” Zaheer said.

_Not likely_ , the Avatar thought. She watched patiently.

“What if we restrained her instead?”

“With what? There’s nothing she can’t break free from.”

“What about knocking her out?”

“She’d wake up before this thing resurfaced, and I don’t have the strength to keep her like this until it does.” Zaheer’s grey eyes narrowed. “Why are you so hesitant to kill her?”

Because she does not wish to be a monster anymore, Korra thought. 

P’Li frowned. “Okay. Just hold her still” She turned towards Korra and readied to fire.

 

The Avatar sent the air pinning her to the wall rushing back towards them, knocking them backwards. She tried to bloodbend them again, but Zaheer was quick to recover and resume shooting blasts of air at her. P’Li fired a beam that just missed and blasted out a sliver of the wall. Korra landed cheek first on the cold metal and hissed.

“Take it up!” Zaheer shouted into an intercom. “We’re sitting turtle ducks down here, we can’t beat her!”

The ground tilted, and Korra now realized what the handholds along the walls and ceilings were meant for. She tumbled backwards until she hit a console, and rolled away from another blast by P’Li. Zaheer gripped a handhold with one hand while the other continued shooting air in quick, arcing bursts that cut like swords. 

The world continued to slope upwards as the tunneler climbed. Korra punched a hole through the wall and slipped through, giving her a momentary respite from the dual Red Lotus attack. Everything rumbled and shook, even her bones. When the tunneler finally broke the surface, it seemed to hang in the air, time frozen, before slamming down like an angry fist. She waited until her teeth stopped rattling and her head cleared before standing, ripping away the wall, and running back into the room. Sunlight poured into the control room where Zaheer and P’Li had escaped. She hurried out into the day to follow.

Korra just managed to avoid P’Li’s waiting blast. “You’ve won!” she shouted. “Stop chasing us, you won!”

“I can’t let you go!” Korra shouted back. 

Zaheer had focused his power into a funnel, the whirlwind picking up dirt and dead leaves as it churned towards her. She breathed the wind in just enough to fuel her, and broke the rest apart as easily as ripping apart paper. Her eyes glowed blindingly in the sun.

P’Li’s bottom lip quivered. Her legs locked in place, and she did not seem to hear Zaheer’s frantic shouts. “Run! Get out of here! Please, hurry!”

“Turn yourself in,” Korra said. Her voice was one and many. It trumpeted mercy and spoke vibrant promises of change. “It is your only escape.”

Zaheer shouted and rushed towards the Avatar, sheathed in wind that sliced away from his body in thin blades. When he drew close, he tackled her to the ground, his scarred, muscled hands pushing down on the Avatar’s shoulders. All the while he never stopped shouting at P’Li to run.

Korra pushed him away as easily as she would a child. He rushed in again, and his nose crunched beneath Korra’s fist. Something wet dripped off her chin. She assumed it to be Zaheer’s blood until she reached a hand to her raw, bleeding cheek. The airbender crept backwards while bending towards her. She rotated to her left and stomped, knocking Zaheer to the ground. A raised hand locked him within a cone of rock.

When she looked up, P’Li was gone. Korra hoped she would keep running forever. 

“Please,” Zaheer croaked. “Don’t chase her. Let her go. I promised her freedom.”

A shadow fell across the dry, dead grass beneath Asami’s airship. Korra moved behind Zaheer, released the earth holding him up, and grabbed hold of his thick wrists. He did not resist while she secured the cuffs hanging at her belt around them.

“I won’t,” the Avatar said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this fits where the story was going and who I tried to have Korra be in this story. It is dangerous to leave P'Li, but the Red Lotus in this story are not quite so fanatical as the show's version. Ultimately, they accomplished what they always felt was necessary when they helped take down the White Lotus, and Korra isn't quite the person they had spent their lives fighting. Both Korra and Zaheer understand they're possibly being naive to trust and see good in each other, but they're sick of death and willing to take that chance.
> 
> All comments are greatly appreciated. One more chapter!


	37. Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter of easily the longest fic I've ever written. It's been quite the experience. I certainly didn't expect to write this much when I started, but once the story grew, all I could do was try and keep up to give the best story I could. Thank you very much to everyone who has, is, and will eventually read this. Thank you to those who have given feedback along the way. Feedback is what keeps these stories going, after all, and just because I'm done doesn't mean I don't wish to hear from those who might read it later. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

“So this guy turns to the other one and frowns like this.” Bolin replicated the look, swaying sloppily beside his chair. Why he had decided to stand during his story, no one was sure. “Then he says, ‘Do you want to be the one to explain a scene like that to the Avatar?’ This poor guy was as pale a ghost. He ran to the director and begged him to forget it, to never mention the idea again.”

Korra exhaled a thankful sigh. Judging by the look on Asami’s face, she shared the Avatar’s relief. Not that either woman had an aversion to sex scenes, but she wasn’t exactly interested in seeing any interpretations of her sex life with her girlfriend.

Bolin giggled drunkenly. His brother and wife each put a hand on an arm to keep him steady. “Why did you drink so much already?” Mako asked. “Don’t you want to remember watching your movie for the first time?”

The earthbender collapsed into his seat. “Not really. If it’s terrible, I don’t want to remember anything.”

Jinora laughed and sipped at her cup. Even at her age, her father glared at every sip of the wine. “If it’s terrible, Varrick better have a well-hidden bunker to hide from Korra.”

“Hey!” the Avatar said. She shrugged within the clinging confines of her dress.

“It will be fine, sweetie,” Opal told her husband, rubbing a soft hand over the worked, calloused back of his. “You’re an annoying drunk, so no more until the movie is over.”

Bolin pouted, but pushed his glass away. He sat still while his wife straightened out his vest and suit coat.

They were all dressed in their best, some more comfortably than others. Opal had straightened out Bolin’s suit multiple times now, and had to pull at the straps of her deep green dress a couple times. Mako and Korra both shifted and shrugged constantly. Asami, of course, wore her complicated satin red dress as easily as she would a pair of pajamas, and navigated atop her heels like they were no different than boots. Tenzin and his sons were dressed in stately airbending robes of red, orange, and yellow, while Pema and the girls wore strapless dresses with red wraps leaving only their right shoulders exposed, the satin shimmering like the sun. Pema especially seemed giddy. Thinking back, Korra could not remember seeing her garbed so beautifully. Golden earrings glittered at her ears, and yellow garnets glimmered around her neck. Neither was as brilliant as her smile.

Korra herself only owned one dress, Water Republic with a fur trim at the waist and fell past her ankles, and it was driving her crazy as ever. She would bear it, though. Compared to everything else she had been through, dressing up to go see a movie a friend had made was an easy sacrifice.

“Did Zaheer have anything new to say?” Tenzin asked. Tonight was the first time she had seen him without a bandage over the freshly acquired wound above his ear. An angry pink line dotted by scabs still disfigured the skin, and stubble a razor could not reach grew around it. The sight made Korra reflexively reach for her own recent disfigurement. 

“Tenzin,” Pema chided. “Not tonight.”

“It’s okay,” Korra said. Asami grasped her hand as she talked to Jinora. “There isn’t much to tell.”

###

Armed guards in United Forces uniforms had lined the walls like suits of armor in castles when Korra arrived, their rifles drawn and their bodies unmoving. Overkill, but it was no surprise. The Avatar had expected nothing less. She only hoped such numbers were only for her benefit, and did not reflect the manpower regularly assigned to the incarcerated Red Lotus terrorist.

Zaheer sat on the ground, the chains securing him in place pooled around his legs. “Every time you come, I expect to hear P’Li has been captured.” He looked up, and his eyes fought back unshed tears. “Is this the day?”

“I told you,” Korra said, sitting cross-legged opposite the man. “She’s gone, and we are not actively hunting her. There’s an alert out in case she makes does anything stupid, but that is it. As for me personally, I have no intention of looking unless she gives me reason, and I don’t believe she will.”

The room was small, the walls designed to press in on whoever was detained within until it squeezed secrets from them. Mere minutes had already taken their toll on Korra. Sweat began to trickle at her hairline. Her hands twitched. Her eyes wandered restlessly in search of escape routes. It was enough to break anyone. 

Two months had not yet worked on Zaheer, and to judge by his calm demeanor and relaxed tone, another half a year may not be enough. To her eye, he looked no more distressed than the day the Chief Beifong had chained him up. 

“She’s always followed our ideals of gratitude and a feeling of indebtedness,’ the prisoner said. “I’ve never questioned P’Li’s loyalty, but I knew it was never to the Red Lotus. It was to me. I truly hope she can find a life of her own.”

“And you surrendered to give her that chance.”

Zaheer nodded. “I love her. Better I spend my life here if it means her happiness elsewhere. I saved her from a life of enslavement. I would never put my own chains on her.”

Korra hoped it was so. P’Li had disappeared, and the Red Lotus as well, but the Avatar still dreaded the day when the towering combustor may try to free Zaheer. Time only made the fear grow. Every day alone was potentially another day where P’Li was left alone and lost, clinging only to a memory of a life of death and destruction that had been the happiest of her life.

“Besides, our goal is complete. The White Lotus is crippled, and their power wanes by the hour. Those who are left hide like rabbits in their holes, scared to poke their heads out in case a blade lops it off. They’ve lost the Avatar, and the power the Avatar granted them. The fight is done.”

“I’m still alive.” Korra peeked anxiously over her shoulder.

The prisoner smiled. “And I am trusting that you will not fall again. I am trusting that you will be there to dissuade the White Lotus’s eventual attempts to regain their power. And if you betray that trust, I know others will rise to take my place.”

“Why do you trust me?”

“Because I have opposed three Avatars. I have personally battled two. I’ve seen you all struggle to retain your humanity against the Avatar spirit.” Zaheer’s grey eyes shone like silver in the sparse light. “You are the first that I believe will win that struggle.”

Korra stood, her limbs heavy and pulling her towards the door, as if they were metal and there was a magnet in the door. “I will. And it has nothing to do with living up to your ideal of what the Avatar should be. I will win because I want to.”

Zaheer nodded. “Good luck, Korra.”

She reached for the door, and stopped. “If I do find P’Li, I will try my best to help her. I promise.”

###

“We’ve found no hints as to her whereabouts, though we have arrested many other Red Lotus members,” Tenzin said. The wind whipped at his sleeves, gusting strong on the balcony. Pema had been quick to ban her husband from the room when he began talking business. “I do worry about both Lotuses. Perhaps you should interrogate Zaheer yourself to discover his former hideouts.”

“That wouldn’t work,” Korra said. “He’s too strong.”

“Perhaps.”

“Come on, you two,” Pema said. “Time to go.”

Tenzin nodded and headed back into the mansion, stopping to kiss his wife on the cheek along the way.

The smiling acolyte smiled even brighter as Korra sheepishly approached. Again, she was struck by just how beautiful and happy Pema was. “What?” she asked when older woman stared.

“I’m just remembering the girl I used to know,” Pema said.

Korra grimaced. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Because I always knew you were more, and it’s so wonderful to see you not only realize it, but strive to be more.”

The Avatar’s blush started in her cheeks, and heated her entire body when Pema hugged her. No matter what she had done, Pema had never been anything but kindhearted and understanding, quick to offer an ear to listen and a shoulder to lean on. She was the closest thing Korra had to a mother in the absence of her own.

A row of limousines waited outside Asami’s mansion, and Tonraq had already claimed one, with Senna at his side. Korra rushed to join them. Her father, of course, still refused to heed his doctor’s warnings and winced when he pulled Korra hard to his side. The bandages which had wrapped his torso were gone, but they were still tender.

“Do you listen to a word anyone tells you?” Senna asked, a thin smile betraying her stern demeanor.

“Hey, if a little pain is the price to pay to hug my daughter, then I’ll gladly pay it.” To prove his point, Tonraq hugged Korra harder.

They piled into the limousines, and Korra was glad to see Jinora beside her and Asami. “How’s your new best friend?” the Avatar asked.

The young airbending master rolled her eyes. “Believe me, she’s far from my best friend. Especially after what she said about you.”

Things between Korra and Princess Kazu had been tense, despite the Fire Lord’s assurances that her nation held no grudge against the Avatar, and would stand behind her. Many Fire Nation soldiers had died in the battle in the Si Wong Desert, their bones buried beneath the ever shifting sands that had buried thousands of years of history among its dunes. Good soldiers who would never be allowed home for proper burials. The Fire Lord had accepted her losses. Her daughter had opposed the attack, and after her mother’s injuries grew bitter.

Korra did not know the details, but apparently Jinora and Kazu had fallen out. “She’ll get over it,” the Avatar said. “She’s angry about her mother. You two should sit down and talk.” I’m not worth the heirs of two powerful nations growing to despise each other.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jinora smiled warmly. Bolin’s drunken, happy roar from the lead limo blasted through the layers of metal and glass encasing them. “Tonight’s a happy night.”

It was a happy night, the atmosphere as intoxicating as the alcohol flowing into their cups and glasses. Even the Beifongs had put aside the recovery efforts in Zaofu for a night to join the celebration. Suyin’s military had been gutted as well in the battle in the desert, already weak from defending their city weeks earlier, and faith in her people had been shaken. Her every day and night since had been spent calming the dangers inside her city while fending off the vultures outside, eager to pick clean what flesh still clung to the metal city’s bones. Pale eyes and pale skin gave her the look of one worked to the brink. Joy and lots of wine had returned color to her spirit.

To hear the others talk, Opal had been the only thing keeping her mother afloat. She had assumed every role she could to help her city, and spent much of the past two months traveling the Earth Kingdom to acquire aide and allies. Like Jinora and Kazu, she would soon assume leadership of her people, and likely before either. Bolin had spent the long morning hours before she arrived pacing the halls of the mansion nervously. Between her duties and his publicity tour, they had not seen each other in a month.

A second, feminine shout, just as drunk and happy, joined Bolin’s. Korra couldn’t help but grin. 

“It’s so great to have you all here,” she said. “I’m still not sure how I ended up with so many people on my side, but I couldn’t be happier to have this night with you all. Things have been tough lately. We really need this.”

“We sure do!” her dad bellowed, and an agreeable cheer swelled within the limo.

“I love you all, and I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to pay you back for your help.” She raised her hand to halt any objections. “Don’t give me any crap about not owing you. I do. So just shut up and cheer again.”

They did as told, and Korra was happy to join them.

###

Laughter erupted on the other side of the doors, and Korra wondered what they were laughing at. Hopefully it was something that was supposed to be funny. The night was warm, but whether that was due to the weather, the wine, or a combination of both, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. A car crept down the street, the street shining slickly beneath its tires, and the driver slowed down to wave at her. She smiled and waved back.

It was still strange to think that within the theater, they were showing a movie about her. It was even stranger to think that people had eagerly lined up to see it. Varrick had booked a theater seating hundreds, one typically used to show plays, and every seat had been filled. Korra had stood outside and greeted them as they arrived. Her hand still tingled from shaking theirs. 

She’d snuck outside a few minutes into it. Not that she thought it was going to be bad, or even particularly cared, but she had never been a movie watcher and it was…strange. Maybe other people could watch someone play themselves on screen, but Korra couldn’t stop shifting in her seat and glancing away. Eventually she gave up and slipped away.

A pair of arms encircled her waist, and the smell of a familiar perfume washed over her. Asami’s dress was smooth as bare skin against her shoulders. “You lasted longer than I expected,” she said. “I wasn’t sure you would even make it to your seat. Everything okay?”

Korra leaned back into her lover’s embrace. “Yeah. Everything’s okay.” She craned her neck to kiss Asami’s jaw. “How is it?”

“Good. I think they did a good job.”

“So that laugh I just heard was a good thing?’

Asami smiled. “Yes.”

Another car passed by, and again its driver slowed down to wave at Korra. “That’s the third one now,” she said. “I think they’re all coming by hoping to sneak in and changing their minds when they see me.”

On cue, a fourth car came towards the theater. A family was within, and the kids in the backseat, two boys appearing to be no older than six or seven, shouted and pointed with big smiles on their faces. Korra waved and then jogged out to the road. It came to a stop, the children’s parents smiling nervously.

“Hi,” she said, shaking the mother’s hand in the passenger seat. She turned and grinned at the kids. They squealed happily when she flexed an arm. “Do you want to get inside and watch the movie?”

The father began to blubber incoherently until his wife gripped his hand. “We weren’t trying to sneak in,” she said. “We were just hoping to maybe see someone famous.”

“I get that.”

“Lift the car!” one of the boys shouted.

“Fly!” the other said.

“Boys, quiet,” their father said.

“Still,” Korra continued. “Would you want to see it?”

“We’re not watching,” Asami joined in. “Our seats are empty, and I’m sure we could get a couple friends to give up their seats, too.”

“That’s not necessary, Avatar,” the mother said. “Really, I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble…”

“Please, you can call me Korra, and it’s no trouble at all. It’s a movie about me. I better have a say over who can and cannot watch it.”

Ten minutes later, the two boys were hopping up and down excitedly, pulling their parents by the arms into the movie theater. “So you’ve never watched any of your movies all the way through?” Korra asked Bolin.

The earthbender shook his head, leaning heavily on the shoulders of his wife and brother. “It’s too weird. I always try to sneak out, and if I can’t I find ways to distract myself.”

“That was nice of you,” Opal said. Her voice slurred slightly as well. “You’re such a sweetie.” Bolin planted a sloppy kiss on her temple, and she giggled.

“I’m a little too messed up to properly enjoy it, anyway,” Mako said. 

Shu rolled her eyes. “Lightweight.”

Korra closed an eye when Asami’s lips pressed too close. “Looks like you made a few new fans,” the dark-haired beauty said.

“Yeah. It’s was really nice to see the kids. It’s kind of weird to think there are a bunch of kids their age that don’t know about my past and can grow up knowing the Avatar as a good person. It’s kind of intimidating, but I’m excited.”

“You’ve earned it,” Asami said. “You worked hard to become a better person.”

Bolin staggered down the street, one muscled arm crushing Opal to his side. Mako and Shu followed them, still bickering back and forth. Korra smiled at them. “I never would have without all of you, though.”

“That’s not true,” Asami argued.

“Yes it is. Come on, Sami. You’ve been here every step.”

“I don’t like you putting yourself down that way.”

“I’m not.” Korra shrugged. “It’s the truth. It’s okay. Everyone needs help. I’m no different. What matters now is that I don’t revert. And I won’t, because I have you, and Mako, and Bolin, and Tenzin. I have my parents. I have a lot of help to inspire the good in me, and I never had that help before.”

“We’ll always be here.” Asami hugged her. “I’ll always be here. I promise.”

Korra closed her eyes and rested her head on Asami’s soft, bare shoulder. “I love you, Sami.”

“I love you, too.”

###

The skies swirled above, a melody of bright colors singing as they wrapped around each other. Swarms of glowing spirits buzzed above flowering trees. A round, dark fruit hung ripe from a branch. Korra plucked it, peeled the skin, and bit into it. Sweet juice ran down her chin as she savored the taste.

The skies began to glow as well, brighter and brighter until she had to shield her eyes. When she was able to look again, the brightness remained, towering tall above her. Beautiful patterns in deep blue were drawn across the surface. Korra felt the breath steal from her lungs.

“It is good to see you, Korra.” 

“You, too,” the Avatar said. “Wow. I’ve never seen you so large.”

Power and order radiated from the spirit like the sun on a warm spring day, invigorating and beautiful. Raava stood tall, strong, confident. Its voice was everywhere, and yet focused only on the woman it had chosen as its host.

“You have done so well, Korra,” the spirit said. “I had begun to doubt whether balance and peace could ever be returned to the world. I feared my power forever corrupted. The world owes you a great debt, and so do I.”

Korra smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. “I was just doing my best.”

“And your best has saved us all. Even now I can feel Vaatu’s influence fade from myself and the spirits. Surely you have noticed as well.”

Weeks had passed since Korra last heard the whispers. The spirit world grew calmer with every passing day. Even spots long volatile seemed brightened, as if a cleansing breeze had washed away a foul air. The nightmares which once plagued her rarely ever visited. 

“It will be many centuries before Vaatu returns. We will have to work together to curb his influence. For the first time since the days of Roku and Aang, I am optimistic.”

“The White Lotus told me that you were to blame for what happened to the Avatar,” Korra said. “They told me that we all fight against your influence, and that we will all succumb eventually. Is that Vaatu as well?”

“It is,” the light spirit said. “Though his latest defeat keeps his physical form imprisoned within the Tree of Time, his influence grows within me as always. As the centuries pass and Harmonic Convergence draws closer, withstanding that influence will become more and more difficult. We will need to match his effort in order to hold strong against him. You will play a key role, Korra. Your actions have struck a blow, and we will need to do everything we can to be sure your descendants hold true against Vaatu’s corruption.”

The wind swirled around them, carrying a hundred beautiful smells. “And that’s why I have those I care about.”

“Yes.”

“We won’t let you down, Raava. I promise.” 

The spirit seemed to smile. “I know. I have faith in you.”

The world grew bright, and again Korra covered her eyes. When the glow vanished, Raava’s warmth still remained, pulsing alongside the beat of Korra’s heart. A spirit fluttered towards her, and then another. She wished to stay, but she had likely spent too much time in the Spirit World already. Asami would be waiting for her near the docks, ready to head over to Air Temple Island.


End file.
